Discover Mausoleum of Augustus

Last updated on October 1, 2026

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Checked against Wikipedia — The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of several concentric rings of earth and brick faced with travertine on the exterior and planted with cypresses on the top tier, the whole structure possibly capped by a conical roof and a huge bronze statue of Augustus, with vaults holding up the roof and opening the burial spaces below; twin pink granite obelisks flanked the arched entryway and have been removed, one now standing at the Piazza dell'Esquilino on the north-west side of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the other at the Quirinal fountain, and the completed mausoleum measured 90 m in diameter by 42 m in height, A corridor ran from the entryway into the heart of the mausoleum where there was a chamber with three niches to hold the golden urns enshrining the ashes of the Imperial Family, two pillars flanking the entrance were mounted with bronze plaques inscribed with the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the document describing Augustus' accomplishments and victories, and surrounding the mausoleum was landscaped parkland akin to modern public parks affording a place of retreat at the heart of Rome's heavily urbanized Campus Martius (October 2026).

Architecture