One of the most beautiful places to see in Ordos City located in Chinese Inner Mongolia province, is a great private mausoleum with colorful towers and monuments. This architectual construction is called Genghis Khan Mausoleum. However, this is not the last resting place of the great conqueror. And he does not end his days in Ordos city either. The mausoleum serves more as a memorial building dedicated to Mongol foiunder who created the largest contiguous empire in the history of mankind. Thus, Mongols consider Genghis Khan their national hero, although other nations may have completely opposite opinion about him.
The real burial place of the ruthless ruler is the unmarked grave located somewhere in the steppes of Mongolia. Genghis Khan. Up to our present days its location is unknown. Truly speaking, we don’t even know why Genghis Khan died at all. Some chronicles state that he died in the land of Egypt, others mention that he passed away from pneumonia after defeating rebellious Tangut tribes in China. There is even a romantic version about the captured Tangut princess who killed Genghis Khan as a revenge for his invasion.
The only real fact that we know is the time of death. Genghis Khan died in 1227 and before his death asked to be buried without markings to his grave, according to the funeral rituals of his native tribe. His body was returned to Mongolia to the vicinity of Onon River. The rest of the details become rather vague as the legend takes place of the real story. According to it, funeral escort killed anyone and anything across their path to his last resting place. This merciless act was done to conceal the place of the grave where Genghis Khan was finally buried.
Other legends go even further and tell us the stories of additional efforts to hide Genghis Khan’s final burial place. One of them tells us that even the river was diverted over his grave to conceal the grave completely. Another one states that Mongol funeral escort organized a stampede of horses over Genghis Khan’s grave and then even planted the trees at that place.
Many archaeological tried in vain to find the Genghis Khan’s burial place but in vain. Many years later the luxurious mausoleum was built to honor the conqueror and create a memorial but not the burial site.
Everybody in the world heard about Arlington National Cemetery - the largest military cemetery in the United States. It was established during the Civil War and since that time over 290,000 people were buried there. It may come as news, but there are also two family mausoleums in Arlington National Cemetery.
These are the only two mausoleums located in the borders of the cemetery. The first family mausoleum is the final burial place for many descendants and members of the Miles Family. And the second one belongs to the Sullivan Family.
Lieutenant General Nelson Appleton Miles served for 42 years in the United States Army. He fought in the Civil War, Indian Wars and Spanish-American war. He was already old when the World War 1 began but he still volunteered to serve in the army. President Wilson turned Miles down due to his age. General Miles died in 1925 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery at the first mausoleum confined within this area.
Brigadier General Thomas Crook Sullivan whose final resting place is in the second mausoleum in the confines of Arlington National Cemetery land a long lasting military career too. He was a guard for president Abraham Lincoln during his inauguration. Then Sullivan served during the Civil War participating in many decisive battles. General Sullivan died in 1908 and after the cremation his remains were buried in the mausoleum of the Arlington National Cemetery.
It seems that both personal mausoleums are destined to be the only ones on this famous cemetery. Since 1925, none of other deceased American war heroes and veterans ever received such a prestigious burial place.
Only for several days every year public can visit one the most remarkable places in Great Britain - Hamilton Palace Mausoleum. It is the family mausoleum that is a part of the Hamilton Palace complex which is the largest non-royal residence in the western world. Mausoleum design was developed in the middle of 19th century by David Hamilton and the whole structure was completed in 1858 by architects David Bryce and Alexander Richie. Originally, the 10th Duke Hamilton planned this Roman-style burial place to be a private mausoleum for his family members on his land in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Inside the mausoleum, the 10th Duke Hamilton was buried in a sarcophagus, built in the ancient Egyptian style. The remains of almost two dozen of his ancestors were buried in the crypt below. Later, during the big flooding from river Clyde, the human remains of this grand and unique mausoleum were moved out of this entombment and re-buried in the local cemetery.
The grand marble and granite mausoleum is not only famous of its size, although the latter is remarkable too as it occupies a site of 650 feet and reaches the height of 123 feet. Mausoleum builders “equipped” it with the longest-lasting echo of any building in the world. The visitors of the impressive mausoleum can also witness the acoustic effect that is nicknamed “whispering walls”. If two people would stand on the opposite sides at both ends of the interior walls facing each other, they can easily conduct a whispered conversation. Another interesting detail of the family mausoleum was a giant glass oculus on the dome. In 1970 it was emoved and replaced by a perspex version with the help of a helicopter.
Even before ancient Egyptians invented pyramids as the private mausoleums for their late pharaohs, our world knew similar constructions albeit for slightly different purposes. In the 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamian valley people were building first known to us custom mausoleums known as ziggurats.
At first ziggurats were built as the simple raised platforms and sometime after turned into a form of a terraced pyramid with a flat top. The construction material was not the granite or stones but sun-baked bricks. Unlike Egyptians pyramids, they were not burial places and did not have an internal chambers. These custom mausoleums were the dwelling places for gods.
Ancient Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians believed that through ziggurats gods could be close to mankind, therefore these temples represented a connection between heaven and earth. Only the chosen ones could communicate with gods on the top of these unique mausoleums. They were high priests of anicent Sumeria.
In the ancient times one could find a mausoleum of this type all around Mesopotamia. But now archeologists discovered only 32 of them. Priests would access the top of the ziggurat via three special staircases. There they would conduct special rituals and sacrifice animals to their gods in the special shrines.
We find mentions of these ancient believes on the pages of the Old Testament in the story about the Babylon Tower. Famous kings Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar were actively engaged in the construction of their own ziggurats that were marvels of the human genius in the ancient times.
In the modern times famous architects got inspired by the ziggurats and built great buildings in the same style of a step pyramid. Among these modern ziggurats are National Geographic Society in Washington, DC and Gold Vault in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
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.
