Maison Carrée

Welcome to Nîmes, a historically renowned city located in the Gard department of the Occitanie region in southern France. Standing right here in the heart of what was once the ancient Roman colony of Nemausus, you are about to…

Beneath the modern stone plaza where you are standing right now lies an astonishing subterranean secret that remained hidden for two millennia. Long before this grand open space was laid out, the site was occupied by a dense…

In his influential architectural treatise, Vitruvius, the famed Roman architect contemporary with Augustus, classified this precise style of sacred building as hexastyle pseudoperipteral. This technical description signifies that…

When you look up beneath the triangular pediment on the northern facade, you will encounter a deeply surprising historical anomaly. There are no carved letters or chiseled words visible anywhere on the smooth stone surfaces today. …

The exquisite botanical band wrapping around the upper facade of the building holds a monumental secret in the history of classical art. This sculpted frieze is the very first provincial imitation in the entire Roman Empire of…

As you step through the tall entrance portal into the quiet interior chamber, you are experiencing a privilege that was strictly forbidden to ordinary Roman citizens two thousand years ago. According to the uncompromising rules…

Standing once again in the sunlight of the forum square and looking up at the majestic silhouette of the Maison Carrée, one cannot help but marvel at how this Roman sanctuary shaped the global history of architecture. During the…