The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Location: Present day southwestern Turkey.

Description: The Mausoleum was about 135 feet high. A colonnade of 36 columns supported a pyramid, on top of which was a statue of Mausolus in a chariot.  The base of the mausoleum covered an area measuring 126 feet by 105 feet (see image below).

Iinformation: King Mausolus ruled over Caria, part of modern-day Turkey, in the 4th centurry BC.  He was an ambitious king and attacked many nearby cities and states.  With the money from his conquests, he built a new capital city at Halicarnassus.

   Toward the end of his life, King Mausolus decided to build himself a tomb, as a monument to his power.  He wanted it to be the most significant tomb ever seen.  No expense was spared and the finished tomb was so grand that it was called a Mausoleum, after Mausolus.

   The mausoleum survived for centuries, but eventually fell into ruin.  The top part of the Mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake and only pieces of the building and its decorations remain.  Today some remnants can be seen in the British Museum of London.