SECANDA paper models for downloading

About...

This famous Roman temple, known as the “Maison Carrée” (Square House in French) was built in Nîmes (Nemausus in Antiquity) at the beginning of the first century, under the reign of Emperor Augustus. It was located on the forum of the ancient city and was intended for the imperial cult, being dedicated to the two adopted sons of the emperor (his grandsons in fact).

The typology of this temple is typical of the classical Roman temples of the High Empire: hexastyle Corinthian order, high podium with front staircase, hypostyle pronaos and pseudoperipteral cella (i.e. with columns engaged on its other three sides). The formula of this building has also served as a model for many neo-antique buildings of the nineteenth century.

Medium in size, this Roman temple is not the largest known to us, nor the largest that has survived, but it is one of the best preserved and is often considered THE best preserved of the whole ancient Roman Empire (together with the Pantheon in Rome). This beautiful antique building is in fact gone almost complete through centuries; only its monumental staircase had disappeared and was restituted in the nineteenth century. Almost complete does not mean intact and the current state of this venerable building is of course the consequence of multiple restorations and removal of later additions (it was used a long time as a chapel, which preserved it).

The Maison Carrée is listed in the Monuments Historiques (Historical French Heritage) since 1840,

License: common law (copyright) | Author: Secanda

Free use for private purposes. Any commercial use is prohibited.

Categories: Temples | Antiquity s.l. | Antiquity s.s. | France |