A mausoleum is an external free-standing
building 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.
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.[3]
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.
^ The plurals mausoleums and mausolea are both used in English, although mausoleums is more common.
Footnotes
^
abToms, J. Mason (Winter 2019). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: The Community Mausoleums of Cecil E. Bryan". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 78 (4): 423–431.
ISSN0004-1823.
A mausoleum is an external free-standing
building 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.
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.[3]
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.
^ The plurals mausoleums and mausolea are both used in English, although mausoleums is more common.
Footnotes
^
abToms, J. Mason (Winter 2019). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: The Community Mausoleums of Cecil E. Bryan". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 78 (4): 423–431.
ISSN0004-1823.