Mausoleum

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A mausoleum (plural: mausolea) is a large and impressive tomb, usually constructed for a deceased leader. Mausoleum can also refer to a building which contains a number of crypts for entombment of deceased individuals.

Modern mausolea will often have columbarium niches for cremated remains in addition to traditional mausoleum crypts. Mausolea can be freestanding buildings, or can be part of a larger facility - such as a church. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, for example, has 6,000 mausoleum and columbarium spaces for burial in the lower level of the building.

The word came from the Mausoleum of Maussollos (near modern-day Bodrum, Turkey), the grave of King Mausolus, the Persian satrap of Caria, whose large tomb was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In New York City, Grant's Tomb is a reduced-scale version of Mausollos' monument. Other notable mausoleums include Abraham Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois and Lenin's Mausoleum situated in Red Square in Moscow.

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