Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
-Located in what is now southeastern Turkey, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb built by Artemisia for her husband, Mausolus, the king of Carnia in Asia Minor, after his death in 353 B.C.
-According to legend, Artemisia was so grief-stricken at her husband’s passing that she mixed his ashes with water and drank them in addition to ordering the mausoleum’s construction. -The massive mausoleum was made entirely of white marble and is thought to have been about 135 feet high. The building’s complicated design consisted of three rectangular layers. -The first layer was a 60-foot base of steps, followed by a middle layer of 36 Ionic columns and a stepped, pyramid-shaped roof. At the very top of the roof lay the tomb, decorated by the work of four sculptors, and a 20-foot marble rendition of a four-horse chariot. -The mausoleum was largely destroyed in an earthquake in the 13th century and its remains were later used in the fortification of a castle. -In 1846, pieces of one of the mausoleum’s friezes were extracted from the castle and now reside, along with other relics from the Halicarnassus site, in London’s British Museum. |