mausoleum

Overview

The word mausoleum (from the Ancient Greek: μαυσωλεῖον) 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.

Mausolea were historically, 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 in necropoles or along roadsides: the via Appia Antica retains the ruins of many private mausolea for kilometres outside Rome. When Christianity became dominant, mausolea 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.

A chapel mausoleum or mausoleum chapel in a cemetery accommodates open or closed-casket funeral services prior to traditional interments.

Notable mausoleums

Africa

El Alia Cemetery in Oued Smar.

Jedars, thirteen ancient monumental Berber mausoleums located south of Tiaret.

Madghacen, a royal Numidian mausoleum from the 3rd century, Batna.

Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, monumental grave of the Numidian Berber king Juba II and the Queen Cleopatra Selene II located on the road between Cherchell and Algiers, in Tipaza Province.

The tomb of Masinissa (Soumâa) in El Khroub

Mausoleum of Sidi Abderrahmane Et-Thaalibi in Algiers.

Al-Hussein Mosque is a shrine and mausoleum in Cairo, Egypt, and the purported burial place of Muhammad's grandson, Husayn ibn Ali

Al-Rifa'i Mosque is a shrine and mausoleum in Cairo, Egypt, and the burial place of the Royal Family of Egypt and Iran.

Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque is a shrine and mausoleum in Cairo, Egypt, and the burial place of Gamal Abdel Nasser, second president of Egypt.

Mastabas dating from ancient Egypt

Mausoleum of Saad Zaghloul in Downtown Cairo, Egypt

Qalawun complex, contains the mausoleum of Qalawun in Cairo, Egypt

The Unknown Soldier Memorial is a pyramid-shaped monument in Nasr City, Egypt

Cheikh Al Kamel Mausoleum, monumental grave of Mohammed al-Hadi ben Issa the founder of Isawiyya in Meknes, Morocco.

Asia, Eastern, Southern, Central, and Southeast

Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Mausoleum of Kazi Nazrul Islam

Mausoleum of Lalon Shah

Mausoleum of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Mausoleum of Three Leaders

Mausoleum of Ziaur Rahman

List of mausoleums of Chinese monarchs

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.

Tomb and Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.

Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Nanjing

Thirteen Imperial Mausoleums of Ming Dynasty Emperors, Beijing

Fuling Tomb, Shenyang

Zhao Mausoleum (Qing Dynasty)

Eastern Qing Tombs

Western Qing Tombs

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing.

Asia, western

Mausoleum of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae

Naqsh-e Rustam at Persepolis, containing the tombs of Persian Achaemenid kings (522-486 BCE)

Tomb of Ferdowsi in Mashhad

Tomb of Hafez (Hāfezieh) in Shiraz

Mausoleum of Saadi Shirazi in Shiraz

Mausoleum of Avicenna in Hamedan

Mausoleum of Omar Khayyám in Nishapur

Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad

Mausoleum of Khomeini in Tehran

Imam Husayn Mosque, Karbala – according to Shī‘ah, sunni & sufi belief, the head and body of Husayn ibn Ali, along with all others who fell at the Battle of Karbala are buried there

Shrine of the Báb in Haifa

Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre

Al-Khazneh at Petra

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus at Halicarnassus

Mausoleum of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, West Bank

Anıtkabir mausoleum of Atatürk the founder of the Republic of Turkey at Ankara

Celal Bayar Mausoleum in Bursa

Adnan Menderes's Mausoleum, in Istanbul

Turgut Özal's Mausoleum, in Istanbul

Europe

Imperial Crypt in Austria

Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Belgium

Batenberg Mausoleum in Sofia, Bulgaria

Cathedral of Saint Domnius in Split, Croatia

Royal Mausoleum and the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor, England

Trentham Mausoleum near Stoke-on-Trent, England

Juselius Mausoleum in Finland

Les Invalides in France

Panthéon, Paris in France

Bismarck Mausoleum outside Friedrichsruh in northern Germany

Lajos Batthyány's Mausoleum in Budapest, Hungary

Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, Italy.

Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome, Italy

Pantheon, Rome in Italy

Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II in Austria

Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy

Wilhelm II Mausoleum in Doorn, Netherlands

National Pantheon / Church of Santa Engrácia in Lisbon, Portugal

Mausoleum of Marasesti in Marasesti, Romania

South America

La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, mausoleum of José de San Martín

Mausoleum of Néstor Kirchner, Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz

Cathedral of La Plata, mausoleum of Dardo Rocha

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz, mausoleum of Andrés de Santa Cruz

Cementerio General de Cochabamba, mausoleum of "general del pueblo" René Barrientos Ortuño

Obelisk of São Paulo, mausoleum to the heroes of the Constitutionalist Revolution in São Paulo, São Paulo

Chico Xavier mausoleum in Uberaba, Minas Gerais

São João Batista Cemetery, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro

Monument to the Independence of Brazil in São Paulo

JK Memorial in Brasília, Federal District

Monument to the dead of World War II, Rio de Janeiro

Imperial Mausoleum, the final resting place of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and other members of the Brazilian imperial family

Altar de la Patria of Chile

Cementerio General de Santiago, Chile

Central Cemetery of Bogotá, Colombia

San Diego Cemetery, Quito

North America

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Canada) in Ottawa, Ontario

Beechwood Cemetery in Vanier, Ottawa, Ontario

Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Eaton family mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario

Fairview Mausoleum in Niagara Falls, Ontario

Francis Nicholson Darke's mausoleum at Regina Cemetery in Regina, Saskatchewan

Hamilton Cemetery in Hamilton, Ontario

Hart Massey's mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario

Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Holy Cross Cemetery (Edmonton) in Edmonton, Alberta

Larson Mausoleum in Lang, Saskatchewan

Mount Royal Cemetery, Outremont, Quebec

Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver) in Vancouver, British Columbia

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Montreal, Quebec

Queen's Park Mausoleum in Calgary, Alberta

Sir Henry Pellatt's mausoleum at Park Lawn Cemetery in Etobicoke, Ontario

Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, Santiago de Cuba

Oceania

Fremantle Cemetery in Palmyra, Western Australia.

The Gatehouse Mausoleum in Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Guildford Cemetery, Western Australia in South Guildford, Western Australia.

John Frazer's Mausoleum at Rookwood Cemetery in Rookwood, New South Wales, Australia.

Karrakatta Cemetery in Karrakatta, Western Australia.

Luciano Rossetti Mausoleum at Springvale Botanical Cemetery in Springvale, Victoria, Australia.

Massey Memorial in Wellington, New Zealand, where New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey and his wife are interred.

Midland Cemetery in Swan View, Western Australia.

Savage Memorial at Bastion Point in Auckland, New Zealand, where New Zealand Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage is entombed.

Seppeltsfield Family Mausoleum within Barossa Valley near Adelaide, South Australia. Joseph Ernst Seppelt and Benno Seppelt are entombed here.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

Wentworth Mausoleum in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia.