A mausoleum (plural: mausolea) is an external free-standing building or standalone structure constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum.
Overview
The word mausoleum (from the ) 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 fell out of use.Paul Veyne, in A History of Private Life: I. From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, Veyne, ed. (Harvard University Press) 1987:416.
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 Algeria 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.
Egypt 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
Morocco Cheikh Al Kamel Mausoleum, monumental grave of Mohammed al-Hadi ben Issa the founder of Isawiyya in Meknes, Morocco. Mausoleum of Mohammed V, monumental grave of King Mohammed V and his sons (King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah) in Rabat, Morocco. Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, monumental grave of Sultan Moulay Ismail in Meknes, Morocco.
Tunisia Bourguiba mausoleum, monumental grave of Habib Bourguiba, first president of Tunisia, in Monastir, Tunisia Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga, ancient mausoleum in Dougga, Tunisia. Mausoleum of Lalla Mennana, in Tunis, Tunisia. Sidi Belhassen Chedly Mausoleum, monumental grave of Belhassen Chedly, near the Jellaz cemetery in Tunis. Tourbet el Bey, monumental grave of the former Tunisian Royal Family, in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia Tourbet Aziza Othmana, monumental grave of Aziza Othmana, a Tunisian princess of the Muradid dynasty in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia
Southern Africa Agostinho Neto's mausoleum in Luanda, Angola King Sobhuza II Memorial Park in Lobamba, Eswatini Kamuzu Banda's mausoleum in Lilongwe, Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika, third president of Malawi, built a mausoleum in which his late first wife and Bingu himself are buried. The Heroes Square in Maputo, Mozambique Heroes' Acre in Windhoek, Namibia Mausoleum of Levy Mwanawasa, Frederick Chiluba, and Michael Sata at the Embassy Park Presidential Burial Site in Lusaka, Zambia National Heroes' Acre in Harare, Zimbabwe East Africa Domoni, Comoros, burial place and location of Ahmed Abdallah's mausoleum, first president of Comoros Meles Zenawi's grave in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Mausoleum of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, late president of Kenya, in Nairobi, Kenya Jaramogi Oginga Odinga's mausoleum in Bondo, Kenya Tom Mboya Mausoleum, Rusinga Island, Homa Bay County, Kenya Julius Nyerere's mausoleum in Mwalimu Nyerere Museum Centre, Butiama, Tanzania Others Mausoleum of Hubert Maga in Parakou, Benin Mathieu Kerekou's mausoleum in Natitingou, Benin Mausolée du Guide Suprême du Patriotisme in Gitega, Burundi Fulbert Youlou's mausoleum in Madibou, Marien Ngouabi's mausoleum and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's mausoleum in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo Laurent Kabila's mausoleum in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Mausoleum of Joseph Kasa-Vubu in Singini, Tshela, Kongo Central, Democratic Republic of Congo Omar Bongo's mausoleum, a replica of the mausoleum of Mohammed V, in Franceville, Gabon Léon M'ba's mausoleum in Libreville, Gabon Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra, Ghana Atta Mills's mausoleum at Asomdwee Park in Accra, Ghana Burma Camp military cemetery in Accra, Ghana Camayanne Mausoleum, monumental grave of Guinea's national heroes Samori Ture, Sekou Toure, and Alfa Yaya in the Grand Mosque of Conakry Amilcar Cabral's mausoleum in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Mausoleum of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, first president of Ivory Coast, in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast Palm Grove Cemetery in Monrovia, Liberia National Hall, mausoleum of the late president William Tubman in Monrovia, Montserrado, Liberia Nnamdi Azikiwe's mausoleum in Onitsha, Nigeria Tafawa Balewa's tomb in Bauchi, Nigeria Mausoleum of Obafemi Awolowo in Ogun State, Nigeria Sani Abacha's mausoleum in Kano, Nigeria John Garang De Mabior's mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan Eyadema's family mausoleum in Kara, Togo
Gallery of African mausoleums
Asia, Eastern, Southern, Central, and Southeast Afghanistan Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Bangladesh Mausoleum of Kazi Nazrul Islam Mausoleum of Lalon Shah Mausoleum of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Mausoleum of Three Leaders Mausoleum of Ziaur Rahman
China 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. Mausoleum of Yuan Shikai, Beiguan, Anyang. Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Beijing.
India Akbar's tomb, Agra Taj Mahal, Agra Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur Humayun's Tomb, Delhi Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, Sasaram, Bihar Safdarjung's Tomb, Delhi Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Indonesia Grave of Sukarno at Blitar, East Java, Indonesia Astana Giribangun at Karanganyar, Central Java, Indonesia Imogiri complex in Imogiri, Central Java is the cemetery for Mataram royals and the Hamengkubuwana Royals of Yogyakarta and Pakubuwono of Surakarta Mausoleum O. G. Khouw at Jakarta, Indonesia
Japan Mausoleums of Emperors of Japan Mozu Tombs in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture Fukakusa no kita no Misasagi (深草北陵) in Kyoto Sennyū-ji, Kyoto Tsuki no wa no misasagi (月輪陵) Fushimi Momoyama no Misasagi (伏見桃山陵), Kyoto Musashi Imperial Graveyard, is a mausoleum complex at Hachiōji, Tokyo Toyokuni Shrine at Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Mausoleum of Kampaku Toyotomi Hideyoshi, which was later destroyed by the Tokugawa clan. Nikkō Tōshō-gū at Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture. It is part of the "Shrines and Temples of Nikkō", Mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa shōguns. Rinnō-ji at Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture. The temple also administers the Taiyū-in Reibyō (大猷院霊廟), which is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shōgun. Together with Nikkō Tōshō-gū and Futarasan Shrine. Zuihōden at Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture is the mausoleum complex of Date Masamune and his heirs, daimyō of the Sendai Domain Tamaudun, at Shuri, Okinawa
Malaysia Makam Pahlawan at National Mosque of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Makam Diraja Mahmoodiah at Bukit Mahmoodiah in Jalan Mahmoodiah, Johor Bahru, Johor Hang Kasturi Mausoleum at Jonker Walk, Melaka City, Melaka Kedah Royal Mausoleum at Langgar, Kota Setar District, Kedah Kelantan Royal Mausoleum Al-Ghufran Royal Mausoleum at Bukit Chandan in Jalan Istana, Kuala Kangsar Hang Jebat Mausoleum in Melaka City, Melaka Shah Alam Royal Mausoleum Tun Teja Mausoleum in Merlimau, Jasin District, Melaka Seri Menanti Royal Mausoleum Sultan Abdul Samad Mausoleum in Jugra, Banting, Selangor
Pakistan Tomb of Jahangir at Shahdara, near Lahore, Pakistan. Mazar-e-Quaid at Karachi, Pakistan Tomb of Allama Iqbal at Lahore, Pakistan Data Durbar at Lahore, Pakistan Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore, Pakistan Bhutto family mausoleum, Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Sindh, Pakistan
Philippines Rizal Monument at Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, houses the remains of Dr. Jose Rizal, national hero of the Philippines. Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution, enshrining participants in the 1896 revolution against the Spanish Empire. Quezon Memorial, in Quezon City, Philippines, houses the remains of President Manuel L. Quezon and his wife, Aurora. Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, housing the remains of President Ferdinand Marcos.
Taiwan National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan. Mausoleum of late President Chiang Kai-shek, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Mausoleum of late President Chiang Ching-kuo, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Chen Tsyr-shiou Memorial Park, Former Mausoleum and Memorial of late Vice President Chen Cheng, Taishan District, New Taipei, Taiwan.
Others Konbaung tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by Konbaung Dynasty kings in Mandalay, Amarapura, and Inwa, Myanmar. Kandawmin Garden Mausolea, Myanmar. Martyrs' Mausoleum, Myanmar. Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit, Thailand Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea Kim Koo Museum and Hyochang Park, Seoul, Republic of Korea (South Korea) Bandaranaike family Estate in Horagolla Bandaranaike Samadhi, Sri Lanka Kurjey Lhakhang, Bumthang Valley, Bumthang District, Bhutan Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam Kumsusan Palace of the Sun or Kim Il Sung Mausoleum, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Asia, western Iran
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