For many people, a mausoleum is a mysterious place, and that’s understandable. The name mausoleum is used in a variety of contexts in our modern age, and that can be confusing. And, even in the smallest, most average, of cities in the United States, a mausoleum can be one of the most imposing, grandiose structures in the city – a structure that sits quietly in the middle of a quiet cemetery, a structure that – unlike the most significant theaters, business centers, and shopping malls in town – people don’t talk much about. And visits are rare. We hope this article can shed some light on these magnificent tributes to the deceased in just about any city.
Definition of a Mausoleum
We start our exploration of mausoleums with a somewhat careful consideration of the definition of the term. A mausoleum, in its strictest sense, is an elaborate building designed with one intent: to entomb the remains of and memorialize the spirit of a famous – or just influential and wealthy – person who contributed significantly to the history of a specific geographic region.
Maybe the most famous mausoleum in the world is India’s legendary Taj Mahal, built to entomb and honor the Indian King Shah Jehan and one of his many wives (the exact identity of whom historians are able to only speculate at this time). This masterpiece of world architecture is still considered a pilgrimage destination for many people of many different faiths across the world and it is definitely a must-see stop for curious tourists no matter their religious affiliation. The shear grandeur of the building is sure to remain influential for many more centuries to come.
In the Taj Mahal, Shah Jehan’s remains are buried underneath the floor of the building, making the grandiose structure more of a centograph than a traditional mausoleum. A centograph is the word given to an outer building attached to a true mausoleum. Such a building allows for visitors to come to the site and marvel at the beauty and history of the mausoleum without disturbing the remains. Strictly speaking, a mausoleum will be the formal home to the remains and rarely (maybe never) is one designed to invite visitors and tourists to mingle amidst the remains. Structures that are perhaps more in line with the formal definition of a mausoleum would be the many Egyptian and Roman pyramids, upon which visitors often marvel from afar (or at least from the outside) but never (or at least rarely) enter the area in which the remains of the deceased person (or people) of honor are entombed. But, then, even these buildings may sometimes be in contradiction to the formal definition of a mausoleum because they often contain the remains of more than one person.
To avoid confusion, it is probably important that we repeat the formal definition of a mausoleum: a building designed to entomb and honor the remains of a single person who contributed significantly to the history of a specific region.
As we trust you have noticed, even the buildings that the world considers its most famous mausoleums do not fully match the strict definition of that word. So it is understandable that there is much confusion in modern day discourse about death care over just what exactly a mausoleum is. In general, mausoleums built in today’s modern world are done so for commercial purposes, in order to house the remains of many people who have paid (or whose families have paid) for their spot in the building. Though the structures may sometimes be dedicated in honor of a particular person or family – often the founders of the cemetery on which the mausoleum is built – this is done in respectful gesture to the long history of mausoleum’s, which, as we say, were originally intended to honor a single person. In truth, just about anyone with the financial means to afford a spot in the building can be entombed in a modern day mausoleum.
A modern mausoleum is likely to include a chapel in which funeral services are held for those who are to be entombed in the building, and many families follow a planning guide for a memorial service when preparing for the ceremony. Often the chapel is designed deep in the building and surrounded by walls that are actually the outer portions of niches (also known as crypts) of those whose remains are in the building. In many cases, the niches that line the walls of the chapel are given the most attention (in terms of flowers and other memorial memorabilia attached to the outer walls) and therefore those spots can usually command the highest price for the cemetery that maintains the mausoleum. The cynical view of the death care industry – which has inspired many cynics in the last 50 years or so – would suggest this is why the chapel portion of any mausoleum is often the portion of the building that has the highest walls – so that it can fit in the most, highest priced, niches.
It is interesting to note that many churches, particularly older churches that have been in continual use since the 18th or 19th centuries, also play home to mausoleums. Probably the largest of these is in Las Angeles, Ca, and it has room for more than 6,000 bodies. These mausoleums are generally built below the main church sanctuary so as to not call attention to themselves during the church’s regular worship services. Though it can sometimes be difficult to find a spot in such mausoleum’s, the respectful – noncommercial – manner in which these churches attend to the remains trusted to their keeping is often considered a great benefit and, though modern zoning laws make new church mausoleums as difficult to build as new church cemeteries, these remain the most popular types of mausoleums in the United States today. (And despite their rarity, those that have spots remaining typically do not command nearly as large a price tag as the spots in modern mausoleums established on commercial cemetery property.
How to Secure a Niche
Securing a niche in a modern mausoleum is decidedly easier than it was in ancient times when the tradition of mausoleums began. One no longer must be of royal blood or lead a nation to greatness in order to acquire the honor of entombment in a mausoleum. No, he or she must simply have the financial resources – or at least have access to the financial resources – to pay for the privilege. A niche in a modern mausoleum can be purchased from a cemetery in just about any medium sized city. Depending upon the amount of spaces available in the mausoleum and the location desired, the prices can range from that of a typical grave site, about $3,000, to more than $25,000. In this respect, mausoleum niches do not differ greatly from traditional burial sites in a cemetery, though customers should expect that prices will generally be $1,000 – $1,500 more than they would be for a grave site of similar value. (Cemeteries typically sell their grave plots for various prices depending upon the location of the site.)
For the budget conscious, a mausoleum maintained by a church (or some other organization to which they are affiliated) may be the best idea to pursue. Though they are typically in very short supply in most locales – since construction of new mausoleums for the last 100 years or so has been almost exclusively, thanks to modern zoning rules, the domain of commercial cemetery companies – church mausoleums are often available for free or very low costs. The conditions for being entombed in such a mausoleum, of course, are often that the deceased has contributed to the church through service, prayer or finances in a great way throughout his or her life.
In general, it is wise for those who are interested in being entombed in a mausoleum to begin their search for a niche well before the need arises. Many families are surprised by the number of arrangements involved, which is why it helps to understand how long does it take to plan a funeral. In fact, many families in recent years have discovered that, by negotiating well in advance of need with a local cemetery, they can purchase a plot of land on a cemetery for a below-market-value price and then build their own private mausoleum, for, perhaps, dozens of their family members and friends to be entombed. Such a move would likely require a fairly large outpouring of cash in the beginning, but it could result in an overall savings over the cost of what individual niches might cost in the cemetery’s own mausoleum. And, because the family would be in charge of the design building of the mausoleum, it would be a great way to assure that a family’s legacy.
Difference Between a Mausoleum and a Columbarium
Our article would not be complete without addressing one final area of confusion regarding mausoleums. In many cases the word mausoleum is used interchangeably with columbarium.
Strictly speaking, a columbarium is building intended to house solely the remains of those who have been cremated. A mausoleum, meanwhile is intended to house both full bodies and cremated remains. (Well, strictly speaking, they are intended to house full bodies only, but most also have sections available for cremated remains.)
Columbarium’s are often more common than mausoleums in many cities because they can typically be smaller, easier to maintain, structures. And, in fact, many structures that house only cremation remains call themselves mausoleums. This could be a sign that the word columbarium is going out of style and will be eventually replaced by mausoleum. (It is interesting to note that few computerized spell check programs today actually recognize the word columbarium, in fact.)