Synopsis

Gates seeks the Heart of Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th-century ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Following Suleiman's death in battle in Hungary in 1566, his body was returned to Istanbul, but not before a ritual was enacted: his heart was removed, placed in a gold vessel, and buried beneath his tent. The Sultan’s adherents held the belief that his heart retained magical power, still beating and awaiting its return to its place within him. The town of Tubek was subsequently built upon the burial