This house impresses with its harmonious proportions and majesty.
This incredibly well-preserved hexastyle Roman temple was built in the early 1st century and dedicated to the grandson and adopted son of Emperor Augustus: consuls and military leaders Lucius Caesar and Caius Julius Caesar. With its architecture inspired by the temples of Apollo and Mars Ultor in Rome, it is impressive for the harmony of its proportions and the majesty it exudes. Thirty columns, each nine meters high, enclose the interior structure. This consists of a cella preceded by a pronaos with a modern ceiling. Originally, the cella was entered through a large door almost seven meters high. In Roman times, the monument was located to the south of the forum. Over the centuries, the temple became a consular house, a church and then a museum of ancient art. It was the meeting place of the Directoire during the revolutionary period, then became the prefecture of the Gard department between 1800 and 1807. Restored, like other Nîmes monuments, in the 19th century, the Maison Carrée bears, engraved in Roman letters on its west side, a short text in Latin: "Repaired by the munificence of the king and money donated by the citizens, 1822". Classified as a historic monument in the 1840 list, the monument has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since September 18, 2023. The Maison Carrée now boasts a new, original museography, with a thematic tour to help visitors understand what makes it so unique.
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