A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of holding Cremation remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin (dove) and originally solely referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons, also called .
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 crematory 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 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 , which function as in-situ columbaria at , 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.
Lawnton-columbarium-wall.JPG|Columbarium wall, with flowers, plaques, and empty niches Columbarium at Père-Lachaise Cemetery.jpg|Detail of the columbarium at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris Ebingen_Kolumbarium.jpg|A modern columbarium in a small town ([[Ebingen]], Germany) Oakland-columbarium-s.jpg|Interior of columbarium at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, California. Some of the cinerary urns are book-shaped. Columbarium at ArlingtonNationalCemetery.JPG|Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Each niche is covered with a marble plaque. Columbarium and Funerary Chapel, Church of the Good Shepherd.jpg|Columbarium and Funerary Chapel, Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania), United States Columbarium Blera.jpg|Etruscan columbarium at ''Cava Buia'', [[Blera]], Italy Takidani-hudoumyououji-Nokotsudo.jpg|A traditional Japanese columbarium at the Takidani Fudōmyō-ō Temple, [[Osaka]], Japan 1.3-Nan Tien Temple.jpg|A modern Chinese-style columbarium at Nan Tien Temple in [[Wollongong]], Australia Bratislava - Friedhof Raca, Urnenwand.JPG|Columbarium wall at the Rača cemetery in Bratislava
|
|