The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and was built in Halicarnassus Mavsolos. Mausolus, the king of Caria, ruled until his death in 353 BC. Queen Artemisia had a mausoleum built for her husband that was to be known as the finest tomb in the known world.
Today, its site is on open-air museum visited with awe for the accomplishments of the ancients. According to ancient authors, Mausoleum is composed four sections.
The mausoleum, standing at over 50 meters, is described as being an enormous white marble tomb with ionic columns to form a temple with a stepped pyramid roof topped with a carriage. Inside the carriage were statues of Mausolus and Artemisia, drawn by four horses. It stood relatively intact for almost 16 centuries until an earthquake in 1304 destroyed it and then it was further broken up in 1522 by the Knights Hospitaller, who used the material to build a castle.
The mayor of Bodrum wanted to build a replica of King Mausolus’ Mausoleum, which is currently on display at the British Museum.
Stating they would erect the mausoleum near the 2,500-year-old Ancient Theatre, Agan said: “The place of King Mausolus’ Mausoleum is being visited by thousands of tourists every year. However, they can only see remains of the mausoleum. For that reason, we will build a model mausoleum on a one-to-one scale of the original mausoleum.â€
The museum has gardens with excavations to the right and a covered arcade to the left. The arcade contains a copy of the famous frieze mainly recovered from the castle walls. The original was sent to the British Museum in London in 1846. Four original fragments were discovered more recently.
