A mausoleum^ is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. A Christian mausoleum sometimes includes a chapel.
Overview
The word derives from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (near modern-day Bodrum in Turkey), the grave of King Mausolus, the Persian satrap of Caria, whose large tomb was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Historically, mausolea were, and still may be, large and impressive constructions for a deceased leader or other person of importance. However, smaller mausolea soon became popular with the gentry and nobility in many countries. In the Roman Empire, these were often ranged in necropoles or along roadsides: the via Appia Antica retains the ruins of many private mausolea for miles outside Rome. However, when Christianity became dominant, mausoleums were out of use.
Later, mausolea became particularly popular in Europe and its colonies during the early modern and modern periods. A single mausoleum may be permanently sealed. A mausoleum encloses a burial chamber either wholly above ground or within a burial vault below the superstructure. This contains the body or bodies, probably within sarcophagi or interment niches. Modern mausolea may also act as columbaria (a type of mausoleum for cremated remains) with additional cinerary urn niches. Mausolea may be located in a cemetery, a churchyard or on private land.
In the United States, the term may be used for a burial vault below a larger facility, such as a church. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, for example, has 6,000 sepulchral and cinerary urn spaces for interments in the lower level of the building. It is known as the "crypt mausoleum". In Europe, these underground vaults are sometimes called crypts or catacombs.
Notable mausolea
Africa
- Mausoleum of Mohammed V
- The Dr. John Garang De Mabior mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan.
- The mastaba
- Agostinho Neto's Mausoleum in Luanda, Angola.
- Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum
- Marien Ngouabi's mausoleum and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's mausoleum in Brazzaville, The Republic of Congo.
- Laurent Kabila's mausoleum in Kinshasa, The Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The pyramids of ancient Egypt and Nubian pyramids are also types of mausolea.
- Abdel Nasser Mosque, is the Mausoleum of Gamal Abdel Nasser, in Cairo, Egypt.
- Unknown Soldier Memorial (Egypt)
- Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania
- Al Hussein Mosque, Cairo â€" a Holy Shrine and Mausoleum, where it is believed by some that the head of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandson is buried.
- Qalawun Mausoleum is the Mausoleum of Qalawun, Located in Cairo, Egypt, it was regarded by scholars as the second most beautiful medieval mausoleum ever to be built.
- Kamuzu Banda Mausoleum, in Lilongwe, Malawi.
- Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi built a mausoleum in which his late first wife and Bingu himself are buried.
- King Sobhuza II Memorial Park, Lobamba, Swaziland.
- Julius Nyerere's mausoleum in Butiama Cemetery, Tanzania.
- Mausoleum of the Late President of Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi, Kenya.
Asia, Eastern, Southern, and South-East
- Taj Mahal at Agra, India
- Rozat Tahera at Mumbai, India
- Humayun's Tomb at Delhi, India
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor biggest underground mausoleum
- The pyramids of ancient China are also types of mausolea.
- Qianling Mausoleum in China, houses the remains of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and the ruling Empress Wu Zetian, along with 17 others in auxiliary tombs.
- Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.
- Tomb of Jahangir at Shahdara, near Lahore, Pakistan.
- Mazar-e-Quaid at Karachi, Pakistan
- Data Durbar at Lahore, Pakistan
- Mausoleum of Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya, Punjab Pakistan
- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
- Kumsusan Palace of the Sun or Kim Il-sung Mausoleum, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
- Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Beijing.
- Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing.
- National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei.
- National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei.
- Mausoleum of Late President Lord Chiang Kai-shek, Taoyuan.
- Mausoleum of Late President Chiang Ching-kuo, Taoyuan.
- Quezon Memorial, in Quezon City, Philippines, houses the remains of Philippine President Manuel Quezon and his wife Aurora.
- Astana Giribangun Suharto family complex in traditional Javanese architectural style in Karanganyar, Central Java
- Imogiri complex in Imogiri, Central Java is the cemetery for Mataram royals and the Hamengkubuwana Royals of Yogyakarta and Pakubuwono of Surakarta
- Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, the mausoleum houses the remains of Former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
- NikkÅ TÅshÅ-gÅ«in NikkÅ, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the "Shrines and Temples of NikkÅ", Mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa shoguns.
- RinnÅ-ji in NikkÅ, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The temple also administers the TaiyÅ«-in ReibyÅ (大猷院霊廟), which is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun. Together with NikkÅ TÅshÅ-gÅ« and Futarasan Shrine.
- ZuihÅden in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan is the mausoleum complex of Date Masamune and his heirs, daimyÅ of the Sendai Domain.
- Sennyū-ji, Kyoto, Japan.
- Musashi Imperial Graveyard, is a mausoleum complex in HachiÅji, Tokyo, Japan.
Asia, western
- Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
- Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae, Iran.
- Naqsh-e Rustam at Persepolis Iran, Tombs of Persian Achaemenid kings (522-486 BCE).
- The Shrine of the Báb and the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Haifa and Acre, Israel, respectively.
- Imam Husayn Mosque, Karbala â€" according to Shī‘ah belief, the head and body of Husayn ibn Ali, along with all others who fell at the Battle of Karbala are buried here.
- Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran
- The Mausoleum of Khomeini in Tehran, Iran
Europe
- Anitkabir mausoleum of Atatürk the founder of the Republic of Turkey at Ankara, Turkey
- Bismarck Mausoleum outside Friedrichsruh in northern Germany
- Hamilton Mausoleum at Hamilton in Scotland
- House of Karageorgevich Mausoleum, St. George′s Church, Oplenac in Topola, Serbia
- Royal Mausoleum and the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum at Frogmore, England
- Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Cathedral of the Archangel in Moscow, Russia.
- Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, Russia.
- Cathedral of Saint Domnius in Split, Croatia
- Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, Italy.
- Pantheon, Rome in Italy
- Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome, Italy
- Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy
- Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy
- Mausoleum of Marasesti in Marasesti, Romania
- Batenberg Mausoleum in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Mausoleum, Stoke-on-Trent in England
- Panthéon, Paris in France
- Les Invalides in France
- Imperial Crypt in Austria
- Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Belgium
- Oplenac Mausoleum in Topola, Serbia, the Mausoleum of the Serbian and Yugoslav Royal House of KaraÄ'orÄ'ević
- National Pantheon / Church of Santa Engrácia in Lisbon, Portugal
Latin America
- El Ãngel Victory column and mausoleum to the heroes of the Mexican Independence in Mexico City, Mexico.
- Monumento a la Revolución monument commemorating and mausoleum to the heroes of the Mexican Revolution in Mexico City, Mexico.
- Obelisk of São Paulo mausoleum to the heroes of Constitutionalist Revolution in São Paulo City, São Paulo, Brazil.
- Chico Xavier mausoleum in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
- Presbitero Maestro mausoleum and museum in Lima, Peru.
- Plaza de Los Heroes mausoleum to the heroes of the War of the Pacific in Valparaiso, Chile.
- Mausoleo a los Heroes de El PolvorÃn, at Cementerio Civil de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, mausoleum of General San MartÃn.
- Artigas Mausoleum, mausoleum of José Gervasio Artigas.
- National Pantheon of Venezuela, mausoleum of Simón BolÃvar.
- National Pantheon of the Heroes
- Altar de la Patria
- Monument to the Independence of Brazil
- Mausoléu Imperial, mausoleum of the Brazilian Imperial Family in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
North America
- Henry Flagler's mausoleum in St. Augustine, Florida
- Grant's Tomb, New York City â€" loosely based on Mausolos' original mausoleum.
- Abraham Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois
- Miles Mausoleum in Arlington National Cemetery
- Queen of Heaven Mausoleum in Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois
- Rose Chapel Mausoleum in Roseland Park Cemetery, Berkley, Michigan
- Tombs of the Uga mascots inside Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia
- Tacoma Mausoleum, Tacoma, Washington
- Shrine of the Good Shepherd Chapel Mausoleum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Eaton Mausoleum, Toronto, Ontario
- Brigadier General Egbert Ludovicus Viele's Egyptian style pyramid mausoleum at West Point, New York
Oceania
- Massey Memorial in Wellington, New Zealand where New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey and his wife are interred.
- Royal Mausoleum in Honolulu, Hawaii where the members of the Kamehameha and KalÄkaua dynasties are interred.
Notes
- 1.^ The plurals mausoleums and mausolea are equally correct in English.
See also
- Crypt
- Ohel (grave)
- Columbarium
- Monument
- Royal mausoleum
Footnotes
External links
- Mausolea and Monuments Trust, gazetteer of mausolea in England
- Marvelous Mausoleums Around The World - slideshow at The Huffington Post