The An?tkabir, crowning a prominent hill in the center of Ankara, is the Mausoleum of Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. It was designed by architects Professor Emin Onat and Assistant Professor Ahmet Orhan Arda, whose proposal beat 48 other entries from several countries. It overs 700.000 square metres of land and includes a Peace Park, which contains plants from all parts of Turkey and the world. The construction of An?tkabir took nine years and spanned four stages, commenced on 9 October 1944 with the ceremony of laying the foundation stone.

credit: Ankara dan

The Qalawun complex in Cairo, Egypt includes a madrasa, a hospital and a mausoleum. It was built by the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun in the 1280s. The complex is the earliest example of a new Syrian style of those times, and displays typical Mameluke architecture. The Mausoleum is one of the most spectacular in Cairo, huge, breathtaking and ornate, notice the 4 massive granite pillars, which were originally part of a pharaonic structure. The mausoleum’s central, domed plan is connected to the madrasa by a long entrance passage, and the plan of both spaces is shifted to accommodate the qibla orientation.

credit: Jorge Lascar