Another popular flower, particularly in Ottoman Turkey, was the tulip. Known as lale among the Turks and Persians alike, this versatile elegant flower was cultivated with great passion in Ottoman times. In the 18th century, under Sultan Ahmed III the love of tulips became frenzied: extortionately expensive festivals were organised which nearly bankrupted the Ottoman Empire. Its beauty was also celebrated in religious poetry. Here, the tulip symbolised a martyr for the faith and the mystical, self-denying lover.