PHOTO BY SEAN COLLIER

The gilded-age banker and industrialist Emil Winter was strolling through a cemetery in the Bronx when he came across the Woolworth family mausoleum, a stunning and opulent example of Egyptian Revival architecture designed by lauded architect John Russell Pope (who later designed the Jefferson Memorial). Evidently, Winter took a liking to the tomb — flanked by striking sphinxes and guarded by a pharaoh and two subjects rendered in solid bronze — so he decided to have one built in his native Pittsburgh.

The Winter mausoleum, built in 1930 in Allegheny Cemetery, features a number of Egyptian motifs, also including an ankh, vulture wings and the sun. It’s a local example of the “Egyptian Revival” architecture movement, when the public fascination with Egypt spilled over into symbols and monuments worldwide.

It’s not the only example in the cemetery; in fact, there’s a pyramid within sight of the Winter mausoleum. It is certainly the most ornate, however, constructed entirely in white granite. Winter moved into the mausoleum after his death in 1941; if you (respectfully) peer past the bronze guardians into the structure, you’ll see the stained-glass windows that are only properly illuminated when viewed from the inside.

Find It! 
Allegheny Cemetery, Section 40  •  Central Lawrenceville, 4734 Butler St.