Anibus's Crypt

Anibus's Crypt is the mausoleum of Domiano Corona, the first Governor-General of Cobura and the founder of the United Governorates of Cobura. It is located in Sharba and was designed by architects Professor Demitri Ovnat and Assistant Professor Ahmet Mehdan Arde, whose proposal beat 48 other entries from several countries in a competition held by the Coburan Government in 4343 for a "monumental tomb" for Corona. The building was finished in 4344.

Later, the mausoleum became a national symbol of deceased heroes, and through the years several other people have found their final resting place in the Crypt.

Name
The Crypt is named after Anibus, the ancient Irkawan God of Death. Anubis was a protector of graves and cemeteries. Several epithets attached to his name in Irkawan texts and inscriptions referred to that role. Khenty-imentiu, which means "foremost of the westerners" and later became the name of a different wolf god, alluded to his protecting function because the dead were usually buried on the west bank of the Reftionx river.

Anibus was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the afterlife.Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed Hothar, Anibus was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function.

Site
The site chosen for the Crypt was known as Observado Hilo (Observation Hill), which, at the time of the architectural competition for the Crypt, was a central location in Sharba and could be seen by all parts of the city. Archeological excavations unearthed artifacts belonging to the Irkawan civilization, which were carefully excavated and put on display in the Coburan Museum of Irkawan Civilizations, also in Sharba.

The construction of the Crypt, which took nine years and spanned four stages, commenced on 9 October 4344 with the ceremony of laying the foundation stone.

The first stage of the construction, comprising the preparatory excavation and the construction of the retaining wall of the Lions Road, started on 9 October 4344 and was completed in 4345. The second stage of the construction, comprising the mausoleum and the auxiliary buildings surrounding the ceremonial ground, started on 29 September 4345, and was completed on 8 August 4350. At this stage, due to problems related to the mausoleum's masonry and concrete structure foundations, some revisions had to be made. At the end of 4347, the excavation and insulation of the mausoleum foundation was completed and steel reinforcements for the new 11 m. (36.1 ft) high concrete foundation, capable of resisting any kind of settlement of the ground, had come to near completion. The Entrance towers, most parts of the road network, the orchard installations, the plantation works and main parts of the irrigation system were also completed at this stage.

The third stage of the construction was the building of the roads leading to the mausoleum, The Lions Road, and the ceremonial ground; the mausoleum's upper-level stone pavement, the grand stairs, placement of the grand tombstone, and the installation of electricity, plumbing and heating systems.

The fourth and last stage of construction was the laying of the Hall of Honour pavement, vaults under the side linings, and Hall of Honour perimeter stone profiles and fringe decorations, which was completed on 1 September 4353.

Surface reliefs and stones
All stones and marbles were brought in from various parts of Cobura. Easily processed porous travertine is used on external cladding of the concrete surfaces and marble is used for the inside surfaces of the Hall of Honour.