Maison Carrée

There are 2 sides to this review. 1. Stunning architecture, a building that has stood for 1000’s of years passed the passage of time for of that it’s well worth the visit. 2, however there is nothing inside than the very informative information boards in one room that you pay €5 and queue for 20 mins. I get the contribution to upkeep, More interesting from the outside.

An absolutely beautiful and well conserved classic temple. The museum itself is very small (one room) so a visit inside will be a very quick visit - one could certainly view from the outside only.

A masterpiece of ancient Roman architecture, this is considered the best-preserved Roman temple in the world, symbolizing the era of Pax Romana. Constructed between 16 BCE and 4 CE, it was dedicated to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, adopted sons of Emperor Augustus, serving as a temple of imperial cult worship. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was repurposed as a town hall, church, and storehouse. From 1821 to 1907, it housed the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which contributed to its preservation. The temple features a hexastyle façade with six Corinthian columns and a pseudoperipteral layout—engaged columns along the cella walls creating the illusion of a full colonnade. Its harmonious proportions and refined decorative elements have inspired many later buildings, including the Virginia State Capitol (USA) and La Madeleine in Paris. ※ Included in the Pass Romanité.

It's a beautiful building to admire from ancient Roman times. The exterior looks impressive and it's located in a lovely spot in Nîmes. I didn't see the inside because there was an entrance fee and I was told there wasn't much to see."

Beautiful temple structure with a small museum inside. Great place to stop and sit for a minute on a nice day.

Best preserved temple of it's inid anywhere. There are a few pillars in Barcelona (allegedly) and one still standing in Pula, bu neither compares to this. Not much to see in the little museum, but like any great art or delicious food you can enjoy it over and over again just being in it's presence and feasting on its history and magnificence.

The museum stuff inside was more interesting than I expected, but there's still not a lot.

The most intact roman building I have seen. Beautifully kept and cleaned, and very well integrateA rare sight !

Maison Carree was included in the price of our ticket to the amphitheater (highly recommend and is already well-reviewed), and it's only a few minutes away, so we went to check it out. The building is beautiful (based on the temple of Apollo if we remember correctly) and has been restored well. We didn't know anything about it but we discovered the whole visit is only a 20-25 minute movie about the history of Nimes. The film is pretty B-level, almost amusing at times in its emotiveness, but does provide you with a nice history of the city. So: if you want to see a nice building, then don't pay to go in. If you want to see a bunch of Roman artifacts, then there's a separate museum for that (which we had decided to skip). If you're into cheesy historical reenactment films, then this is the place for you.

They show film on History of Nîmes. They actually seriously worked on making it. It is included in the Billet Romaine, the combo ticket to access as well as to Les Arènes and Tour Magne.

La Maison Carrée is a stunning piece of architecture, so wonderfully preserved that its age is hard to imagine. Spend as much time there as you can, drinking it in. However, as a number of French reviewers here already suggest, you can definitely skip the interior. What you get for your money is a movie in a darkened theater space, and nothing more. You do NOT see the interior of the temple, and the movie itself is short and without interest to the tourist, as its purpose is not at all to educate visitors but to pump up civic patriotism among the citizens of Nimes. Maybe that's a positive ambition, but the highly sanitized version of Roman society (i.e., no slaves, no gruesome executions, no strict separation of social classes, etc., etc.) comes off as comical to anyone who knows a bit of history, and insulting to the memory of all the thousands of innocents who died in France at the hands of Roman tyrants.