The Roman temple in Nîmes, France, celebrated as one of the best-preserved Roman temples, is the Maison Carrée.
The temple stood in the forum of ancient Nemausus, the Roman city now called Nîmes. It was an Augustan provincial temple associated with the imperial cult and was probably dedicated around 4–7 CE to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the grandsons and adopted heirs of Augustus. Both young men died before succeeding him.
Maison Carrée means “square house,” although the building is actually a rectangle. Its design features a high podium, a deep entrance porch, six Corinthian columns across the front, and engaged columns along the cella walls. The surviving decoration and overall structure make it an unusually complete example of Roman temple architecture.
The building endured because it was repeatedly adapted rather than abandoned: it became a civic building, a church, and later a museum. Thomas Jefferson admired it and used a model of the temple while designing the Virginia State Capitol. Its inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2023 further recognized its exceptional preservation and historical importance.