What is the first thing which pops into your mind when you hear or read the word “pyramid” ?

Let me guess…

1. Egypt
2. Stargate
3. Mayas
4. (More) Stargate
5. Toblerone

Well, you can add another one on your list: Europe! 

Yes, because there are some pyramids in Europe worth mentioning at your next dinner in town :) You are welcome! 

HOLLAND: The Pyramid of Austerlitz.

There is a lot of things wrong in that title, right? A pyramid in Holland? And why Austerlitz in Holland! Austerlitz is the Napoleonic battle fought in a remote corner of the nowadays Czech Republic.

                   

                                                                                                      [Credit]

Well, as I explained in my post about the Marshall Marmont, this dude was in charge of Holland in the early XIXth century. He had a camp located in the middle of the country, and, Holland being pretty quiet at the time, he decided to give his jaded troops the original task of building a 36 metres pyramid, on top of which, for good measure, a 13 meters obelisk was added (thanks general!). 

                                                                                                      [Credit]

It was completed in September 1804 and less than a year later it was dedicated to the victory of Napoleon at Austerlitz! Speak of a prescient man!

               

                                                                                                      [Credit]

The pyramid can still be seen today of course, under the name of “Marmontberg”.

ITALY: Cestius’ Pyramid

Gaius Cestius was an important member of the Roman elite, so important that he built himself a tomb in the shape of a pyramid, between 18 and 12 BC.

                                                                                                      [Credit]

It measures 37 meters high, which makes just a bit higher than Marmont's one, and its 29.6m at its base gives it its bombastic spiky look. 

                       

                                                                                                      [Credit]

Of course, Cestius probably didn’t just want to impress but also enjoy the peaceful afterlife of a pharaoh, and forgot that if you want to rest in peace quietly, a pyramid is the worse thing you can do and is basically a magnet for plunderers and vandals of all kinds!

                                                                                                      [Credit]

It was never destroyed though and incorporated in the fortifications of Rome. And all you have now is a pretty shell in the middle of Rome.

SPAIN: Mausoleum of the Italians

Napoleon, Roman Emperors, every dictator which respects himself is fascinated with Egypt and want to mark the passage of time with its own little pyramid. Mussolini was no different.

                                                                                                      [Credit]

In 1937, the Italians Fascist “volunteered” by Mussolini to fight on the side of Franco and died like flies in the battle of Santandar. To celebrate their sacrifice, Mussolini asked Franco the permission to build a 20m high very martial pyramid, with 372 niches inside to host the remains of the fallen. 

             

                                                                                                      [Credit]

In the 1970s, of course, due to the change of regime in Spain, the remains were rapatriated in Italy and the pyramid is now abandoned and decrepit.

             

                                                                                                      [Credit]

BOSNIA: Is the biggest pyramid of the world under that hill?

Now, this one is tricky, because it might be simply the delusion of an apprentice Indiana Jones who read too much about Egypt and sees a pyramid under a simple mountain in the middle of Bosnia, near the town of Visoko. 

                   

                                                                                                      [Credit]

And when you look at it, it's true that this green hill is quite impressively geometric. Moreover, it has the curiosity to be perfectly oriented according to the cardinal points! However, as if it was not as impressive (and suspect), it was claimed that there was not only one, but half-a-dozen pyramids around, a giant complex which even dwarfs the Pyramids of Gizeh. All of this dating back 25.000 BC ! 

                    

                                                                                                      [Credit]

Since then, his case has been a bit ridiculed and contested by other scientists who see only natural geological phenomenons in his “discoveries.” It may just be the dream of a guy who sees a pyramid below every “pyramid-shaped hill”, but I let you make up your own mind. 

                        

                                                                                `[Credit]

What pyramid did I miss? Is there a pyramid worth mentioning in your own country, region, city? Let me know about.

 

Sources

http://www.trinfinity8.com/recent-discoveries-at-the-bosnian-pyramid/

http://www.exohuman.com/wordpress/2011/06/bosnian-pyramid-of-the-sun/

http://www.ancient-code.com/the-electromagnetic-fields-and-healing-powers-of-the-bosnian-pyramids/

http://hasmgrupu.blogspot.com.es/2012_07_29_archive.html

http://www.labrujulaverde.com/2016/10/la-piramide-de-austerlitz-levantada-por-los-soldados-de-napoleon-en-27-dias

http://guerraenmadrid.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/la-piramide-de-los-italianos-muertos.html