The
Maison carrée (French for 'square house') is an ancient
Roman temple in
Nîmes, southern France. It is a mid-sized
Augustan provincial temple of the
imperial cult, and one of the best-preserved Roman temples to survive in the territory of the former
Roman Empire. Built in the early 1st century AD, it was dedicated or rededicated to
Gaius and
Lucius Caesar, grandsons and adopted heirs of Augustus, who both died young. The Maison carrée is similar to a Tuscan-style Roman temple as described in the writings of
Vitruvius, a contemporary Roman writer on architecture. It has undergone several restorations over the centuries and was inscribed on the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites in 2023. This photograph of the Maison carrée at evening was taken in 2019.
Photograph credit: Krzysztof Golik