Roman columbaria were often built partly or completely underground. The
Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is an ancient Roman example, rich in frescoes, decorations, and precious mosaics. Today's columbaria can be free-standing units or part of a
mausoleum or another building. Some manufacturers produce columbaria built entirely offsite and brought to a
cemetery by large truck. Many modern
crematoria have columbaria. Examples of these are the columbaria in
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and
Golders Green Crematorium in London. In other cases, columbaria are built into church structures. One example is the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles, California), which houses several columbarium niches in the mausoleum built into the lower levels of the Cathedral. The construction of columbaria within churches is ubiquitous in the
Czechoslovak Hussite Church. An example can be seen at the Church of St Nicolas in
Old Town Square, Prague. In the
Catholic Church, although traditional burial is still preferred,
cremation is permitted provided that the cremated remains are en
tombed and that the cremation is not done for reasons contrary to the Catholic faith. As a result, they are within some Catholic cemeteries. Columbaria are often closely similar in form to
pagodas, which function as in-situ columbaria
pavilions at
Buddhist temples, which from ancient times have housed cremated ashes. In
Buddhism, ashes may be placed in a columbarium (), which can be either attached to or a part of a Buddhist temple or cemetery. This practice allows survivors to visit the temple and carry out traditional memorials and ancestor rites. ==Gallery==