A funeral term to describe a structure built to store the cremated ashes of the deceased
A columbarium may exist as a fully-fledged building, a designated shelf or room in a crematorium or mausoleum, or a stand-alone unit outside (bearing a certain resemblance to monuments typically erected at veteran memorials).
The ashes of each person are kept in respective urns, which are then placed in individual recesses (a hollow space in a wall or other surface).
These recesses, called niches, can have metal (usually bronze), granite, or glass fronts. Choosing to store the remains of loved ones in a columbarium is much cheaper than doing so in a cemetery or mausoleum.
