Aside from her political concerns, Hurrem engaged in several major works of public buildings, from Mecca to Jerusalem, perhaps modelling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph Harun al-Rashid's consort Zubaida. Among her first foundations were a mosque, two Koranic schools ("madrassa"), a fountain, and a women's hospital near the women's slave market ("Avret Pazary") in Istanbul (Haseki Sultan Complex). It was the first complex constructed in Istanbul by Mimar Sinan in his new position as the chief imperial architect. She also built mosque complexes in Adrianopole and Ankara.