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Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other
phases of the project for an additional ten years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been
completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million Indian
rupees ($ 501,000 US) which in 2015 would be valued at around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827
million US). The construction project employed around 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a
board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The domed marble tomb is part of an integrated
complex consisting of gardens and two red-sandstone buildings surrounded by a crenellated wall
on three sides
Cluny Abbey
Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. He nominated Berno as the first
Abbot of Cluny, subject only to Pope Sergius III. The abbey was notable for its stricter adherence
to the Rule of St. Benedict, whereby Cluny became acknowledged as the leader of western
monasticism. The establishment of the Benedictine Order was a keystone to the stability of
European society that was achieved in the 11th century. In 1790 during the French Revolution,
the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed, with only a small part of the Abbey surviving.