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The Mausolem at Halicarnassus

The Mausoleum of King Mausollos of Caria is located in the city of Bodrum (f.k.a. Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey. It was completed around 350 BC, three years after Maussollos death.

The Mausoleum remained in good condition for nearly 16 centuries, until an earthquake damaged the roof and colonnade. The Knights of St John of Malta used the stones of the Mausoleum to fortify their crusader castle in 1494 and had used nearly every block of it by 1522.

The massive castle still stands, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum are visible in it. Some sculptures, including fragment of statues and many slabs of the frieze showing  the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons,  survived and are on display at the British Museum in London. Only the foundation of  the the Mausoleum remains on the site.

Acombination of archeological excavations done since the nineteenth century and detailed descriptions by ancient historians provide a fairly good idea of the shape and appearance of the Mausoleum.

The mausoleum was rectangular, with base dimensions of about 40 m (120 ft) by 30 m (100  ft). A stepped podium with statues decorating the sides overlaid the foundation.  The burial chamber and the sarcophagus were located on the podium and surrounded by  Ionic columns. The colonnade supported a pyramid roof which was also decorated with statues. The top of the tomb was adorned with a  statue of a chariot pulled by four horses.

The Mausoleum was 45 m (140 ft) high. This is broken down into 20 m (60 ft) for the stepped podium, 12 m (38 ft) for the colonnade, 7 m (22 ft) for the pyramid, and 6 m (20 ft) for the chariot statue at the top.

The Mausoleum's beauty was in the decorations and  statues adorning different levels of the outside on the podium and roof as much as in the structure itself. Decorations inlcuded tens of free-standing statues of all sizes of people, lions, horses, and other animals. The Greek sculptors Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus were each responsible for one side of the building.

 

 

 

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