In the late 19th century just outside the Italian city of Ravenna workers excavated stone building that was partially submerged in water. It turned out to be the burial mausoleum of Theodoric the Great, king of Ostrogoths. In the center of this personal mausoleum built in 520 there was a porphyry tub, where once the warriors put the body of the late king. However, later, when the city was under Byzantine ruling, the remains were thrown out and the former mausoleum tomb became a Christian chapel.
Theodoric the Great was so popular among Germanic tribes that he became a legend in English, German and Norse mythology. He was not only the king of Ostrogoths, but also the regent of Visigoths and the ruler of Italy. Epic poems of Middle Ages tell stories about the way he dealt with Odoacer - Germanic general who deposed the last emperor of Western Roman empire Romulus Augustulus in 476.
After Odoacer put an end to Western Roman empire, he proclaimed himself a King of Italy. He was an illiterate man and Arian Christian. Odoacer defeated Vandals in Sicily and added ancient Dalmatia to his kingdom. His actions angered Zeno, the Eastern Emperor, who persuaded his Ostrogothic vassals that Odoacer was their enemy. He sent Goths headed by Theodoric get rid of Odoacer once and for all.
Ostrogoths crossed the Alps and poured into Italy. Three times Theodoric defeated armies of Odoacer and at last besieged him in his capital of Ravenna. However, Ostrogoths tried in vain to capture the city for almost three years and in February 2, 493 Theodoric and Odoacer signed a treaty that ensured a shared rule over Italy. Happy Odoacer organized a lavish banquet to celebrate the treaty. During this celebration, Theodoric, after making a first toast murdered Odoacer in cold blood. He strangled the king of Italy with his bare hands.
Unlike his predecessor, Theodoric restored Roman law and judicial system for Roman citizens while Goths were obeying their custom laws and customs. His kingdom kept on expanding. However he was Arian Christian and that led to the deterioration of his ties with Eastern Roman empire. And after his death, Theodoric’s achievements began to unravel pretty fast.
His mausoleum is one of the greatest and priceless monuments in Ravenna. It has its own Gothic style and decoration which UNESCO considers it among the world heritage sites. This memorial mausoleum is also the only surviving burial tomb of a barbarian king of that period.
Among the prominent modern mausoleums around the world, there is a famous one in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. It is a usual place of visit of the dignitaries and officials from foreign countries. This Pakistani national masoleum complex is called in Urdu language Mazar-e-Quaid. Inside it, there is a tomb of the founder of Pakistan - Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The mausoleum complex including the monuments was completed in the 1960s. However, its arcitechtual design has an interesting history. It was borrowed from the past. In fact, tthis white marble mausoleum construction is the replica of the funeral complex built in Central Asia between 892 and 943. This famous original is called Samanid mausoleum. It is located in modern city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan on the burial site of even more ancient cemetery.
Mazar-e-Quaid is elevated on 54 metres platform and has an inner cool sanctum. The burial chamber contains an impressive four-tiered crystal chandelier presented to Pakistan from the Republic of China. The memorial park that surrounds it can also be considered a cemetery complex as it serves as the place of entombment for most prominent people of Pakistan, including the first prime minister of this country.
At nights, the mausoleum is glowing and can be seen for miles, as strong-beamed lights in the memorial park are reflected from its white surface. On special occasions, grand military and official Pakistani ceremonies are taking place here as well.
One of the most interesting modern mausoleums has been located in Central Java province which is a part of the Republic of Indonesia. It is a grand mausoleum complex for the Suharto family named Astana Giribangun which is translated from Javanese into English as a “Palace of Arisen Mountain”.
Suharto was a second president of Indonesia who ruled his country with an iron hand from 1967 to 1998 and passed away in January 2008. His mausoleum construction and subsequent entombment partially occupies a huge cemetery and memorial park famous for the burial sites of the royal Java kings and their families.
The history of the mausoleum is the following. President Suharto chose this place for construction before his death because this exact location is considered a powerful magical place by many Indonesian spiritualists and soothsayers. The granite mausoleum building was created in traditional Javanese architectural style to serve as last place for the remains of Suharto’s late wife and her mother in 1996.
Moving the crypts of his relatives to the the mosoleum instead of the regular cemetery lots led to the huge controversy in the Indonesian and, especially, Javanese society. Some thought that Suharto’s wife should not have been buried at this sacred place as she was not of true royal blood but a simple commoner.
Eventually, this incident grew as a snowball and ended in court. The decision of the court was even more astounding. It allowed president Suharto to have the mosoleum complex and family monuments at the cemetery but they should not be higher than existing royal tombs.
This the incident was resolved and in January 2008 president died and joined his relatives in the mausoleum, where he was buried with full state military honors.
Mausoleum is a building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person. Its plural form is mausolea, although in America we commonly use for plural - mausoleums. What is the origin of the word? It was derived from the name of King Mausollos, ruler of ancient kingdom of Caria. His tomb - Mausoleum - was such an architectural marvel that it was considered to be the greatest aesthetic triumph. Ancients thought of it as the highest achievement and called it one of the Seven Wonders of the Word.
