Mausolus Tomb (Greece)
The Kingdom of Cari, a Greek city-state, had the city of Mile which was massacred by the Persian Empire, so the Cari people under the leadership of Mausolus, along with the Greek people, resolutely stood up to defend their beloved homeland. his own, heroically fighting against the invading enemy. In the end, the Cari country won, freed from the yoke of the Persian empire.
After that glorious victory, Cari became a rich and powerful kingdom with the annexation of many neighboring regions and Mausolus became emperor of Cari. The Cari Kingdom moved its capital from Milasa to Halicarnas and built Halicarnas into a political, economic, commercial and cultural center of Asia Minor. Currently, Halicarnas has changed to Budrum. Halicarnas is a bustling, beautiful city with lush green forests, interspersed with beautiful architectural works, splendid temples, and marble statues such as the Aretes statue and the goddess statue. The love of Aphcodis, dotted here and there with high fountains, made the face of Halicarnas even more magnificent.
Among those wonderful architectural works that have attracted many tourists from all over to admire, first of all is Mausolus' tomb. This is a great architectural work that harmoniously combines the three arts of the Dorien, Ionien and Corain people.
Mausolus's mausoleum was built in the period 353 - 350 BC, on a high hill, next to an avenue with a vast square. With a majestic and beautiful architectural work and a particularly high and spacious location, the beauty of the king's tomb is even more attractive. Greek people coming here can almost see the image of their beloved homeland, the country and people of Greece as they exist here.
Right from the time he was ruling the country, Mausolus had his mausoleum built. With power in hand, money, available manpower, and the support of his wife Artemis and the king's sister Mose, the king put all his energy and money into trying to create a ministry. prosperity of the Cari country and wanted the name of Mausolus to live forever.
Mausolus Tomb is not only the eternal resting place of the king and queen Artemis, but also the place of rest and convalescence for him and the queen during their living days ruling the country. Therefore, the environmental landscape of Mausolus's tomb is like a lively park. To build this tomb, Mausolus invited all the country's genius artists such as Timophey, Seopates, Piphey... to participate in the construction. Each artisan depends on his strengths, based on the king's requirements, to think and present ideas to build his work
.The mausoleum is a tall, almost square building with dimensions of 64m on one side and 75m on the other. Above are 36 pillars supporting the pyramid-shaped roof. On the walls are columns decorated with vivid reliefs and statues, making Mausolus' tomb even more splendid and charming.
Mausolus' tomb consists of two floors and a spire, the first floor is built of marble, has a bedroom, a place to rest, play, and entertain both the king and queen. On the walls there are reliefs depicting the struggle of the Greek people against skilled female knights, both riding horses and shooting bows and arrows. They are warlike female Amazon warriors. These are brave, brave, and talented female soldiers: They ride horses with their legs to the side, and are talented in archery and swords. Many of them, in order to make it easier to use bows and crossbows, they use their own hands. burned one breast.
Covering the upper floor is a row of circular marble columns. Between the columns are placed lion statues, the top of each column is meticulously and elaborately decorated. The column is designed in the Dorique style. This is a type of Greek architecture commonly found in Dorien architectural works in Polonèse and the island of Cret. On the third floor, colonnades were built, more graceful and slender, a variation of the Ionique style. It is the Corain column style. The top of the column is often carved with acanto branches, a tree that grows widely in Greece, which at first glance looks like flowers. The Corain column style is the architectural style of the Corain people. The Ionique column style was created by the Ionian people in Western Asia. The column looks light and elegant, the top of the column has spiral curves, the two ends are curved like two goat horns. The roof of the tomb is a large tower with many steps. At the top of the tower is a statue of a galloping horse, symbolizing the king's leadership.
The mausoleum of Mausolus was built by three successive generations. It was built by the king himself when he still ruled the country. When the king died, Queen Artemis took charge of continuing the construction. The queen passed away, and the king's children and grandchildren continued to build it until it was completed.
The mausoleum is located on a hill so the foundation is very solid, with square stones that can withstand the pressure of a high castle, with a 24-step marble tower with rows of columns and statues. marble. To complete a massive architectural work with three floors and a tower, stone blocks weighing tens of tons must be transported from a very far place and must be brought up a high hill, then in turn brought up to different heights. of the tower, not only required tens of thousands of slaves to work day and night, for decades, in extremely primitive construction and transportation conditions, relying mainly on human power. That means the slave's labor is limitless.
Sculptor Piphey, who was in charge of sculpting statues at Mausolus' tomb, worked hard for 12 years, day and night, without a moment of free time. Piphey and a few disciples worked quietly for 12 years without a word of encouragement or comfort, without any material training, but only with orders and edicts to urge completion with good quality. …
But for the artist's conscience, for the sake of art left behind for generations to come, Piphey put all his mind and energy into creating statues, working diligently without a word of complaint. The mausoleum of Mausolus is a cultural wonder of the ancient Eastern world, not only the pride of the Mausolus family, of the Greek people, but also a heritage of all humanity, but also a monument. full of blood and tears of tens of thousands of slaves and of many genius artists.
Under Alexander, the mausoleum of Mausolus remained intact and was preserved until the 15th century. But then the smoke of war, devastating fires, and terrible earthquakes completely destroyed Mausolus' tomb. In 1402, a terrible earthquake in Cari permanently buried Mausolus' tomb. The Cari people used the remaining stone blocks of the tomb to build a fortress against foreign invaders, and some bad elements stole those stones to build their own homes.
Now Mausolus' tomb no longer exists, the capital Halicarnas has changed to Budrum. But the bas-reliefs depicting the Greek people's fight against the Amazon female cavalrymen have become priceless masterpieces of art, being lovingly preserved in museums in Athens and other museums. in Europe, especially at the London Museum.
