Which ancient wonder was completed around 350 BC as the tomb of a Carian ruler and his wife?

The story behind the answer

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was completed around 350 BC as the tomb of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia II.

Mausolus ruled Caria, a region in southwestern Anatolia, from Halicarnassus, now Bodrum in Türkiye. He made the city his capital and sponsored an enormous funerary monument for himself and Artemisia, who was also his sister and succeeded him as ruler. The tomb was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythius and decorated by leading sculptors of the period.

The building combined a high podium, a surrounding colonnade, a pyramidal roof, and sculpted figures, including a quadriga, or four-horse chariot group, at the summit. Its exceptional scale and decoration led ancient observers to include it among the Seven Wonders.

The monument survived antiquity but was damaged by earthquakes during the medieval period. Knights of St John later dismantled much of the structure and reused its stones in Bodrum Castle. The word “mausoleum” comes from Mausolus's name, though this question concerns the specific Halicarnassus monument.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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