Mausoleum
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An artist's reconstruction of the Mausoleum
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The tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria in Asia Minor, who, by his lavish program for beautifying his capital at Halicarnassus and his patronage of the arts, foreshadowed the Hellenistic kings of the next century. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Mausolus died in 350 B.C. His sister, who was also his wife, supervised the building of the tomb. The Mausoleum, designed by Pythius, was a rectangular building of the Ionic order; above the columns rose a pyramidal roof topped by a four-horse chariot. An earthquake destroyed the Mausoleum before the 15th century; but excavations have revealed fragments, including a statue of Mausolus himself which is almost intact.
The term "mausoleum" has come to be applied to any structure specifically designed to house bodies above ground, as distinct from structures designed for underground burial or receptacles for holding ashes.
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