Maison Carrée

The Maison Carrée ( German: Rectangular House ) in Nimes, France, is one of the best preserved temple on the territory of the former Roman Empire.

It was built around 19 BC, at the behest of Marcus Agrippa Vipsanius, who was also the original patron of the Pantheon. The temple was dedicated to his two sons, Gaius and Lucius, the adopted heirs of Augustus who both died young. The original inscription with this dedication was removed in medieval times. However, it was a local scholar named Jean -François Séguier possible to reconstruct the inscription 1758. He succeeded with the help of the number of holes in the facade of the Arcade, where the bronze letters had been affixed. The dedication text reads:

The temple is preserved because it was consecrated in the early fifth century for a while after his task to a church. Thus he escaped the widespread destruction of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as the state religion (mostly decaying shrines were destroyed in order to win construction material). Later he became the meeting place of the urban senators, a barn during the French Revolution, and it is a place where the city archives. In 1823 he became a museum. The current name of the building dates from the 16th century. At that time was called " carré " nor " rectangle (ig) " and not, as now » square ( ish ) ." A square was then called " carré parfait ." Thus, the correct translation of the name " Square House " and not " square house ", which would correspond not to the form.

The Maison Carrée is an excellent example of a classic Augustan temple podium. It rises on a 2.85 m high podium, which towered over the forum of the Roman city. The rectangular base is almost twice as long as wide ( 26.42 m by 13.54 m). The front is dominated by a deep portico or pronaos, which spans a third of the length of the building. Ten columns have Corinthian capitals, and a further 20 half-columns surround the rest of the building. The architrave above the columns has fine relief stone carvings that show rosettes and acanthus leaves. A large door (6.87 m high and 3.27 m wide) leads into a very small and windowless interior, where the cella was housed. This space is now sometimes used for art exhibitions. There are not received any remains of the ancient interior decoration.

The building has undergone over the centuries a variety of conversions. Until the 19th century it was part of a larger complex of adjoining buildings. These were demolished when the Maison Carrée was converted into a museum. Thus the building was again given the prominent role it had in Roman times. The pronaos was restored, as at the beginning of the last century, the roof was replaced. The present door was made ​​in 1824.

Another renovation was carried out between 1988 and 1992, when the roof was again renewed, and the place was exposed for it. The outer sides of the Roman Forum came to light. Sir Norman Foster was commissioned to build on the opposite side of the square a modern art gallery, Carré d'Art. It represents a contrast to the Maison Carrée, but borrowed many architectural elements from Roman temples, as the portico and columns ( but made ​​of steel and glass customized). The contrast between modernity and antiquity is mitigated by a variety of quotes something.

The Maison Carrée inspired the neoclassical church of the Madeleine in Paris.