Historic Burial Sites
By M. Kotch
When famous figures are laid to rest, they’re often placed in elaborate, beautiful and grandiose tombs. Yet as fancy as Elvis Presley’s, Michael Jackson’s and Marilyn Monroe’s burial sites are, they don’t compare to the ancients’ resting places. In fact, many of the world’s most visited tourist destinations gained fame for being elaborate tombs.
Historic Burial Sites
Here are five famous historic burial sites:
1. Stonehenge: Located in the English county of Wiltshire, this prehistoric monument was constructed between 3100 B.C. and 1600.B.C. Though historians remain mystified about who exactly built one of Britain’s most famous monuments, theories point to ancient Druids while another legend involves none other than King Arthur and Merlin. Regardless of who constructed the ancient site, historians agree about the existence of many burial mounds at Stonehenge, as well as evidence of cremated remains.
2. The Pyramids of Giza: Of the seven natural wonders of the ancient world, these tremendous pyramids are the only remaining wonder standing—mostly—intact. The Pyramids are located near Cairo, Egypt, west of the River Nile. The Great Pyramid (both the largest and oldest) was built 25 centuries before the birth of Christ as a tomb for Khufu, the second Pharaoh of ancient Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty. The second ancient Pyramid was built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khafre (Khufu’s son). The third (and smallest) of the three ancient Pyramids was built for Menkure, another Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh and Khufu’s grandson.
3. Taj Mahal: Perhaps the most romantic of all historical sites, the Taj Mahal’s sprawling, white marble buildings stand within a 42-acre complex in Agra, India; it took 22 years to construct this Northern Indian mausoleum. The Taj Mahal was built as a tomb for Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Inseparable since their marriage in 1612, Shah Jahan ordered the construction of the tomb in 1632 after his wife died giving birth to his 14th child. Shah Jahan was later buried with his wife in the Taj Mahal.
4. Westminster Abbey: With a history spanning over a thousand years, this historic site reignited the public’s imagination thanks to an elaborate plot involvement in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Located in London, England, King Edward the Confessor first built the Abbey around 1050; it would be rebuilt by King Henry III in 1245. Here are some interesting facts about Westminster Abbey:
• Though often informally called Westminster Abbey, the church’s formal title is Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster
• The Abbey has been the site of 38 coronations, spanning the reigns of William the Conqueror in 1066 to Elizabeth II in 1953
• Innumerable historic figures are buried at Westminster Abbey, including: Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Laurence Olivier
5. Saint Peter’s Basilica: Considered by many to be the greatest of all Christian churches, the Basilica lies within Vatican City in Rome, Italy. The construction of the modern (or new) Basilica of St. Peter began under Pope Julius II in 1506 and was completed under Pope Paul V in 1615. According to Dr. Steven Hijmans of the University of Alberta: “On December 23, 1950, in his pre-Christmas broadcast on radio, Pope Pius XII announced the discovery of St. Peter’s tomb far below the high altar of St. Peter’s basilica in the Vatican. This was the culmination of 10 years of archaeological research under the crypt of the basilica, carried out by two Jesuit archaeologists and their colleagues.”
Saint Peter’s Basilica was the largest church in Christendom until Yamoussoukro Basilica (located in Africa’s Ivory coast) eclipsed it in 1989.
