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Facing NE: the front of the Mausoleum.
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The frontal view above, despite the inexplicable film problem, is useful since it provides a clear overview of the structure, gives us an idea of the scale — as it stands today, the monument is about 9 meters tall — and shows us the only remaining limestone facing. A walk around the sides shows nothing but the core of opus caementicium (rubble and mortar) to which the facing, now gone, was applied:
Facing SE: the right side of the Mausoleum.
In the background, the church of S. Maria del Prato. |
Facing NW: the left side of the Mausoleum.
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It's hard to say whether this building has survived well or poorly. Archaeologists do date it to the 1c B.C., which is a long time for a fairly small structure to survive — i.e., one in which the surface-to‑volume ratio is high; on the other hand the facing stone looks pretty sturdy:
Next to the door of the tomb, remnants of the thick facing of squared stone, with the rubble-work behind it. |
The vent over the door. (A bit further on, you'll see why I don't want to call it a window.) |
I had no wide-angle lens, but thru the magic of PhotoShop, two shots taken from the door, at different angles, are spliced along the vertical line. The visitor may ask for the key to unlock that door, in theory, at the nearby Roman theatre. |
The idea is also put forth sometimes that this is no tomb, but rather a temple, or more accurately, a shrine of some kind. I suppose it's possible, but I really don't think so: this small marble-faced square room was no inner cella — the opening over the door disposes of that; I'd expect a round space inside, columns, and steps; and it just looks like so many other tower-type tombs thruout the Roman world. (The opening over the door might give us just the briefest pause, since the dead hardly need windows; but even in similar tombs built today, they do need an opening to vent the buildup of gases.)
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Page updated: 15 Jun 03