Human life is short, and even the great sages could not always understand what was hidden behind the gates of eternity: the mystery of the Divine plan, heaven or hellish torment? Mere mortals were not at all able to solve this riddle. However, at all times, one of the measures of the spirituality and morality of peoples has been their attitude towards the dead. Necropolises - memorial structures of past eras - occupy one of the most important places among the monuments of material culture. Some of them are not only outstanding works of architecture and art, but also historical sources important for researchers.

The new book from the “100 Great” series contains information about the most outstanding necropolises of all times, from the Egyptian pyramids and Zoroastrian “towers of silence” to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Sainte-Genevieve-du-Bois and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.