What Is a Mausoleum? Crypts, Entombment, and Costs Explained
What Is a Mausoleum? Crypts, Entombment, and Costs Explained
A mausoleum is a building designed for above-ground burial, where caskets are placed in sealed chambers called crypts rather than buried in the ground. This guide explains what a mausoleum is, how crypts work, what entombment means, the difference between private and community mausoleums, typical cost ranges, and how a mausoleum compares to a columbarium and traditional in-ground burial.
What is a mausoleum?
A mausoleum is a free-standing building or structure designed for above-ground burial. Instead of being buried in the ground, a casket is placed in a sealed chamber called a crypt within the building. Mausoleums can be private family structures or large community buildings that house many crypts.
What a Mausoleum Is
A mausoleum is a building or free-standing structure built to hold human remains above ground. Rather than lowering a casket into an in-ground grave, the casket is placed inside a sealed chamber within the building. Mausoleums range from small private structures built for a single family to large community buildings that hold hundreds of remains.
The word traces back to the tomb of Mausolus, an ancient ruler whose grand burial monument gave us the term. Today the meaning is broader: any above-ground building intended for burial can be called a mausoleum. Some are elaborate marble and granite structures; others are simple, functional buildings on cemetery grounds.
The core idea is above-ground entombment. If a loved one prefers not to be buried in the earth, or a family wants a shared, weather-protected resting place they can visit indoors, a mausoleum is the structure that provides it.
What Is a Crypt and How It Relates
People often use "mausoleum" and "crypt" interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. A crypt is the individual chamber or space that holds a single casket. A mausoleum is the building that contains one or more crypts. In other words, a mausoleum houses crypts—the crypt is the compartment, the mausoleum is the structure around it.
Each crypt is sealed after the casket is placed inside, then closed with a front panel—usually marble or granite—that carries the name, dates, and any inscription. When you walk through a community mausoleum and see rows of engraved stone fronts, each one is the face of an individual crypt.
Historically, "crypt" also referred to a stone chamber beneath a church or building. In modern cemetery use, though, a crypt most commonly means the sealed space within a mausoleum where a casket is entombed.
What "Entombment" Means
Entombment is the term for placing remains in an above-ground crypt, as opposed to burial in an in-ground grave. When a family chooses a mausoleum, the service that follows is called an entombment rather than a burial or an interment in the earth.
Practically, entombment means the casket is placed into the crypt chamber, the crypt is sealed, and the front panel is set in place. The ceremony itself can be identical to a graveside service—readings, music, and time for family—simply held at the mausoleum instead of an open grave.
Understanding this vocabulary helps when you speak with a cemetery or funeral director: burial and interment usually refer to in-ground graves, while entombment refers to above-ground placement in a crypt.
Private, Family, and Community Mausoleums
Mausoleums come in several forms depending on how many people they are built to hold and who owns them. A private or family mausoleum is a stand-alone structure built for one family, often on a purchased plot within a cemetery. It may hold a handful of crypts and can be personalized with the family name, architecture, and inscriptions.
A community or public mausoleum is a large building operated by the cemetery, containing many crypts sold individually to different families. Buying a single crypt in a community mausoleum is far more affordable than commissioning a private family structure, which is why community mausoleums are the most common form of above-ground burial.
Some cemeteries also offer garden or "estate" mausoleums—semi-private structures for a small number of families—falling between a fully private tomb and a large community building. The right choice depends on budget, how many spaces a family needs, and how private they want the resting place to be.
Lawn Crypts, Single Crypts, and Companion Crypts
Within these categories, crypts are described by their configuration. A single crypt holds one casket. A companion crypt holds two caskets, often for a married couple; these can be side by side or stacked so that two people rest together in one crypt space.
A lawn crypt is a slightly different concept: it is an in-ground burial chamber, often pre-installed in rows and sometimes designed to hold two caskets stacked vertically. Lawn crypts blend features of in-ground burial and entombment—the reinforced chamber protects the casket, but the surface is a level lawn with a flat marker rather than an above-ground building.
Crypts are also described by their height in a community mausoleum wall. Lower crypts near eye level are usually priced higher than "heart level" or higher tiers because they are easier to visit and view, while the highest crypts are typically the most affordable.
Indoor vs Outdoor Mausoleums and Typical Costs
Community mausoleums come in indoor and outdoor styles. Indoor mausoleums have climate-controlled, enclosed corridors where families can visit sheltered from weather. Outdoor mausoleums—sometimes called garden crypts—have crypt fronts that open to the open air, with visitors standing outside. Indoor crypts generally cost more than outdoor ones because of the enclosed, maintained space.
Costs vary widely by region, cemetery, crypt height, and whether the crypt is single, companion, indoor, or outdoor. As a general guide, a single crypt in a community mausoleum often ranges from a few thousand dollars into the low tens of thousands, while a private family mausoleum can cost many tens of thousands of dollars or far more once land, construction, and stonework are included.
It is worth noting that mausoleum entombment is often more expensive than in-ground burial, largely because of construction and the premium on prime crypt locations. Always ask the cemetery for a written price that specifies the crypt type, location, opening-and-closing fee, and the cost of the engraved front panel. Prices here are broad ranges only—confirm current figures directly with the cemetery.
Inscriptions and Adding a Digital Memorial to a Crypt
Each crypt front carries an inscription—typically the name, birth and death dates, and sometimes a short epitaph. Space on a crypt plate is limited, so the words are brief. That constraint is exactly where a digital memorial adds something a stone front cannot: the full story behind the name.
A QR memorial plaque can be added to a crypt plate or placed beside it. When a visitor scans the small code with a phone, it opens a complete online memorial: photos across a lifetime, video, voice recordings, and written tributes from family and friends. The engraved marble stays dignified and simple, while the digital page holds everything that wouldn't fit in a few carved lines.
For families visiting a community mausoleum, this turns a quiet corridor of name plates into a living record. Grandchildren can scan the code and instantly meet the person behind the dates—hearing a laugh, seeing a wedding photo, reading the stories that make a life more than a name on stone.
Mausoleum vs Columbarium vs In-Ground Burial
These three options are easy to confuse, but the distinction is straightforward. A mausoleum is for caskets and full-body entombment above ground—the remains have not been cremated. A columbarium is different: it is a structure of small niches built to hold urns of cremated ashes, not caskets. If a family has chosen cremation, the ashes go in a columbarium niche; if they have chosen full-body burial above ground, the casket goes in a mausoleum crypt.
In-ground burial, by contrast, places the casket (or an urn) in a grave in the earth, marked by a headstone or flat marker at the surface. It is usually the most affordable of the three and the most traditional.
Put simply: columbarium equals ashes in niches, mausoleum equals caskets in crypts, and in-ground burial equals a grave in the earth. The right choice depends on whether the family has chosen cremation or burial, budget, and how and where they want to visit. Whatever the choice, a digital memorial can accompany any of them.
Add a Full Life Story to a Crypt Plate
A crypt front has room for a name and two dates. A digital memorial holds everything else—photos, video, voice, and the tributes of everyone who loved them. Add a QR plaque and a quiet mausoleum corridor becomes a place where the whole story is one scan away.
It is free to create and takes about five minutes. A QR plaque is optional and comes later — the page is the heart of it.
Create a free memorial page
Free Digital Memorial for Any Resting Place
Creating an online memorial is free, whether your loved one is entombed in a mausoleum, placed in a columbarium, or buried in the ground. Add photos, videos, stories, and voice messages at no cost. If you wish, you can later add a QR code plaque to the crypt or marker—but the digital memorial itself is always free and lasts forever.
What Is a Mausoleum — FAQ
A mausoleum is the building or structure, and a crypt is an individual sealed chamber inside it that holds a single casket. One mausoleum contains many crypts. When people say they bought a crypt, they mean a space within a mausoleum. The mausoleum is the whole; the crypt is one compartment.
Costs vary widely by region, crypt type, and location within the building. A single crypt in a community mausoleum often ranges from a few thousand dollars into the low tens of thousands, while a private family mausoleum can cost many tens of thousands or more. Mausoleum entombment is usually more expensive than in-ground burial. Always confirm current prices with the cemetery.
Entombment is placing a casket in an above-ground crypt within a mausoleum, rather than burying it in the ground. The casket is placed in the crypt, the chamber is sealed, and an engraved front panel is set in place. The service can be just like a graveside ceremony, simply held at the mausoleum instead of an open grave.
A mausoleum holds caskets in crypts for full-body entombment above ground. A columbarium holds urns of cremated ashes in small niches. The deciding factor is cremation: if a loved one was cremated, the ashes go in a columbarium; if they were not, the casket goes in a mausoleum crypt.
A companion crypt is a single crypt space designed to hold two caskets, most often for a married couple. The two caskets may be placed side by side or stacked so both people rest together in one crypt. It is a common choice for spouses who want to remain together in a mausoleum.
Yes. A small QR memorial plaque can be added to a crypt front or placed nearby. When scanned with a phone, it opens a full online memorial with photos, video, voice recordings, and family tributes—far more than the name and dates that fit on the engraved stone. The digital memorial itself is free to create.
Create a Lasting Memorial Today
Whatever resting place your family has chosen, the memories deserve to be kept. Start a free digital memorial and invite family to add their own photos and stories.