This is my recreation of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The structure is most often known for its mystery as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Little is known about the architecture and design behind the mausoleum, but we do know a few things...

The mausoleum was initially opened in 351 BCE in the ancient city of Halicarnssus in the Achaemenid Empire, modern-day Bodrum, Turkey. Historians only know of one figure who was buried there: Mausolus, a native Anatolian and the equivalent of a governor in the empire. In fact, the word "mausoleum" was coined from the name Mausolus because of the grand above-ground structure erected to house his corpse. We do not know who designed the structure itself, but historians have confirmed that Greek artists Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas of Paros, and Timotheus contributed to the sculptural reliefs on all sides of the exterior. The mausoleum was slowly destroyed (and never repaired) sometime between the 12th and 15th centuries AD due to earthquakes, but it was officially "demolished" in 1494 when the Knights of St. John of Rhodes used its stones to make a fortress.

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus consisted of at least three tiers -- similar to a wedding cake. The highest tier, which contained a peripteral portico and the main interior chamber, was furnished in the ionic order. The mausoleum was also decorated with a large number of sculpture and frieze decorations.

However, that being said, there are a lot of unknowns about the mausoleum (and to be honest I've taken quite a few liberties of my own when recreating this famous structure). First, there is no confirmed interior design. I took the liberty of making a two-storied chamber in the ionic order with an elaborately coffered ceiling. Second, there was likely a massive chariot statue on the top of the mausoleum. However, because of the world height limit of a superflat Minecraft world, there was no room to add any ornamentation at the very top. Third, there is no one single interpretation of the courtyard which surrounded the mausoleum. I made my own courtyard design with victory arch gateways, obelisks, and elaborate ground patterns.

Given the wide variety of interpretations of this magnificent world wonder -- along with the limits of building because of the world height limit and my junk laptop -- I could not do this mausoleum total justice with my recreation. In truth I did do my best, but I can only hope for so much in order to provide a realistic build on such a scale. I know some of you may be thinking that I could just use mods to raise the world height limit, but that would mean I couldn't share the map with you on PMC as there would be parts missing in the unmodded version. But, with that being said, I hope you enjoy my recreation of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Stay tuned for more as I return to the Imperial Fora Series and eventually put all of the fora together into one downloadable map! :D