Maison carrée facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Maison carrée |
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Maison carrée in 2019
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| General information | |
| Type | Roman temple |
| Architectural style | Roman |
| Town or city | Nîmes |
| Country | France |
| Coordinates | 43°50′18″N 4°21′22″E / 43.83833°N 4.35611°E |
| Completed | 2 A.D (2024 years ago) |
| Inaugurated | 4–7 AD |
| Height | 17.1m |
| Official name: The Maison Carrée of Nîmes | |
| Type: | Cultural |
| Criteria: | iv |
| Designated: | 2023 (45th session) |
| Reference #: | 1569 |
| UNESCO region: | Europe |
The Maison carrée is an amazingly preserved ancient Roman temple. It stands in the city of Nîmes in southern France. Its name means "square house" in the French language. Even though it is called a square, the building is shaped like a rectangle. It was built during the peak of the Roman Empire. Because it was built so well, it still stands tall today.
Long ago, it was used for the imperial cult. This was a Roman tradition where citizens showed loyalty to their leaders. The temple was built during the reign of Emperor Augustus. In 2023, experts placed this special site on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today, visitors come from around the world to admire its beauty and explore its fascinating ancient past.
Famous builders loved this design. In Paris, the grand neoclassical church known as Église de la Madeleine copied its columns. In Poland, architects designed St. Marcellinus Church in Rogalin using the same style. In the United States, leader Thomas Jefferson admired the ancient structure deeply. In 1785, he ordered a stucco model while living in France. He then based the famous Virginia State Capitol building on its classic lines.
Contents
History of the Ancient Roman Temple
Workers completed the temple between 4 AD and 7 AD. Leaders dedicated it to Gaius and his brother Lucius Caesar. These two young men were the grandsons of Emperor Augustus. Augustus had chosen them to lead Rome one day. Sadly, both boys died very young from sickness and battle injuries.
To honor them, bronze letters were mounted on the front frieze and architrave. During medieval times, townspeople removed these letters to reuse the metal. However, empty pin holes remained stuck in the stone blocks. In 1758, a clever local scholar named Jean-François Séguier figured out the original puzzle. He studied the patterns of the holes and matched each letter back into place. His discovery was later reviewed in the scholarly journal Acta Eruditorum.
Architecture and Amazing Design Features
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The building follows the classical rules described by Vitruvius, a celebrated Roman architectural writer. It sits atop a tall platform called a podium that measures 2.85 meters high. The main rectangle spans 26.42 meters long by 13.54 meters wide. This raised platform allowed the temple to look out over the central public forum of the city.
The front facade welcomes visitors with a deep covered porch called a portico or pronaos. This porch takes up nearly a third of the entire structure. Grand stairs lead upward to emphasize the towering temple front. This design gave Roman temples a clear front entrance, making them different from older Greek temples.
The building features a classic hexastyle layout, meaning it has six columns across the front. These pillars use the ornate Corinthian order style. The tops of the pillars feature decorative stone carvings of acanthus leaves and delicate flowers. The main room of the temple is called the cella. Along the outside walls of this room, twenty attached columns are built directly into the stone. Because these columns are partly embedded, architects call the building pseudoperipteral.
Above the columns, an architrave rests in three distinct decorative layers. Carvers added lovely Egg-and-dart patterns alongside tiny tooth-like blocks called dentils. A huge doorway measuring 6.87 meters high opens into the inner room. Ancient statues once stood inside, but today the interior features a modern screen showing an educational 3-D film about local history.
Restorations and Modern Protection
The Maison carrée survived through two thousand years because local citizens never stopped using it. Over the centuries, people turned it into a home, a stable, a Christian church, and even a town archive. During the nineteenth century, city leaders decided to clear away newer buildings packed around its sides. This project helped restore the temple to its open Roman setting.
Between 1821 and 1907, the interior served as the home of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes. Skilled craftsmen installed a sturdy new wooden roof and carved a new front entrance door in 1824. Modern specialists completed another major restoration between 1988 and 1992. Workers cleaned ancient stones and uncovered stone lines marking the original forum square.
Across the open public square, world-famous architect Sir Norman Foster built a stunning glass museum. This modern building is known as the Carré d'Art. It features transparent glass walls that reflect the ancient stone columns of the Roman temple. It shows how ancient history and modern art can share space together in peace.
See also
- List of Ancient Roman temples
