World SCEnery:

Mausoleums and Statues – Around the World

*Ref: email from LH on 11/06/2010

*Other Good References:

1) http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=famous+mausoleums&rlz=1R2TSHB_en&wrapid=tlif12901401362321&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=5vnlTNW5NYmusAPphaGxCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CCwQsAQwAg

2) http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1R2TSHB_en&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=famous+statues+around+the+world&aq=2&aqi=g10&aql=f&oq=famous+statu&gs_rfai=

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10 Most Famous Mausoleums in the World

The Tomb of Mausolus, was a tomb built at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, a governor in the Persian Empire.

The structure was considered to be such an aesthetic triumph that A ntipater of Sidon identified it as one of his Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The word mausoleum has since come to be used generically for any grand tomb and this top 10 features some of the most famous ones. Unfortunately the famous Tomb of Mausolus didn’t make it to this list. It was damaged by an earthquake and eventually disassembled by European Crusaders in the 15th century.

10. Tomb of Cyrus, Iran

Cyrus the Great was the founder and ruler of the vast Persian Empire in the 6th century BC.

Hist tomb is the most impor tan t monument in Pasargadae, the ancient capital of Persia.

9. Lenin Mausoleum, Russia

Lenin’s Mausoleum serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin.

His embalmed body has been on public display there since the year he died in 1924.

8. Humayun's Tomb, India

The Mughal Emperor Humayun’s tomb, was commissioned by his wife in 1562 A D.

It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent and located in Delhi, India.

Inspired by Persian architecture; the tomb reaches a height of 47 meter ( 154 feet ).

7. Castel Sant' A ngelo, Italy

usually known as the Castel Sant’ A ngelo, towering cylindrical building in Rome,

initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family.

Hadrian’s ashes were placed here a year after his death in 138, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son.

6. Tomb of Jahangir, Pakis tan

Mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627 and located in Lahore, Pakis tan .

His son built the mausoleum 10 years after his father’s death.

It is sited in an attractive walled garden and has four 30 meter high minarets.

5. Imam Husayn Shrine, Iraq

Located in the city of Karbala, Iraq  and s tan ds on the site of the grave of Husayn ibn ‘ A li, the second grandson of Muhammad,

near the place where he was killed during the Battle of Karbala. The tomb has 65 smaller rooms.

4. Mausoleum of the Shirvanshahs, A zerbaijan

Part of the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the biggest monument of the Shirvan- A bsheron branch

of the Azerbaijan architecture (15th century), situated in the Inner City of Baku.

3. Shah-i-Zinda, Uzbekis tan

One of the most famous mausoleums of Central A sia, situated in the north-eastern part of Uzbekis tan (dating back to the 11-12th centuries).

The name Shah-i-Zinda, “The living king”, is connected with the legend of Kusam ibn A bbas, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad.

According to the legend he was beheaded but took his head and went into the deep well (Garden of Paradise), where he’s still living now.

2. Terracotta A rmy, China

The Mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) is located near the city of Xi’an.

The tomb of the emperor has not been excavated yet but his buried terracotta army unearthed nearby has already become world famous (over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses).

1. Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal is an immense mausoleum of white marble,

built between 1632 and 1653 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife.

10 World Famous Statues

Statues have been created by man since the prehistory for all kinds of reasons and in all sizes.

One of the first statues, a 29.6 cm ( 11.7 inches ) high sculpture called the Lion Man,

was created almost 32,000 years ago. The original Seven Wonders of the World included two statues:

The Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

Today, statues have been erected all over the world representing everything from religious deities,

historical events and influential people.

10. Little Mermaid, Denmark

The statue sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour at Langelinie.

Tourists visiting for the first time are often surprised by the relatively small size of the statue.

The Little Mermaid statue is only 1.25 metres high and weighs around 175 kg .

Designed by Edvard Eriksen, the statue was erected in 1913 to commemorate a play of the Little mermaid.

The poor lady has lost her head several times but has each time been restored.

9. Lions of Delos, Greece

Located near Mykonos, the island of Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium

before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of A pollo and A rtemis.

The Terrace of the Lions was dedicated to A pollo by the people of Naxos shortly before 600 BC

and had originally 9 to 12 marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way. Only 5 lions survived and from 3 lions fragments exists.

8. Mother Russia Statue, Russia

also called The Motherland Calls, a famous statue in Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad.

When the memorial was dedicated in 1967 it was the tallest sculpture in the world, measuring 85 metres ( 279 feet )

from the tip of its sword to the top of the plinth. The figure itself measures 52 metres ( 170 feet ), and the sword 33 metres ( 108 feet ).

Two hundred steps, symbolizing the 200 days of the Battle of Stalingrad, lead from the bottom of the hill to the monument.

7. Olmec Heads, Mexico

The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian civilization (from 1400 BC to about 400 BC.)

living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in what are roughly the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco. 

There have been 17 colossal heads unearthed to date.

The heads range in size from the Rancho La Cobata head, at 3.4 m high, to the pair at Tres Zapotes, at 1.47 m .

6. Mount Nemrut, Turkey

A 2,134 meter ( 7,001 ft ) high mountain in southeastern Turkey, near the city of A diyaman.

In 62 BC, King A ntiochus I Theos of Commagene built on the mountain top a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues

(8–9 m/26–30 ft high) of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, and Persian gods.

Since their erection, the heads have toppled from the bodies and lay scattered throughout the site.

5. David Statue, Italy

Masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504.

The 5.17 meter ( 17 ft ) marble statue portrays the Biblical King David in the nude and was moved in 1873

to the A ccademia Gallery in Florence.  A replica was placed in the Piazza della Signoria, at the original location.

4. Great Sphinx, Egypt

Located at the Giza Plateau, The Great Sphinx is one of the largest and oldest statues in the world 

and was built in approximately 2500 BC by the pharaoh Khafre, the supposed builder of the second pyramid at Giza.

3. Statue of Liberty, United States

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France

to celebrate the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, s tan ds upon Liberty Island.

The construction of the statue was completed in France in July 1884 and arrived in New York Harbor the following year.

2. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

Statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, located at the peak of the 700 metres ( 2,300 ft ) Corcovado mountain.

The statue s tan ds 39.6 metres ( 130 ft ) tall, including its 9.5 metres ( 31 ft ) pedestal, and 30 metres ( 98 ft ) wide.

1. Moai, Chile

The world famous moai are monolithic statues located on Easter Island, one of the most isolated islands on Earth.

The famous statues were carved by the Polynesian colonizers of the island, mostly between circa 1250 A D and 1500 A D. 

The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 meters ( 33 ft ) high and weighed 75 tonnes.

The heaviest erected was a shorter but squatter moai weighing 86 tons

and one unfinished sculpture, if completed, would have been approximately 21 meters ( 69 ft ) tall with a weight of about 270 tons.