The Temple of Augustus and Livia in Colonia Julia Vienna (Vienne) - Ancient Roman Civilization on Waymarking.com

This temple in the Italic style, surrounded on three sides by columns, stood on a high podium. Two different styles are apparent in the Corinthian capitals, the modillons, and the cornice panels. These testify to two different construction periods. Stylistic criteria allow us to place the first period in the years 20 - 10 BC. From that time the temple was probably dedicated to the emperor. A few decades later, the facade and two thirds of the eastern side of the edifice were built or rather, rebuilt. The reasons remain a mystery today : perhaps the edifice was unfinished or had defects? At that time what is perhaps the original dedication was inscribed on the frieze : "ROMAE ET AUGUSTO - CAESARI DIVI F" ("to Rome and Caesar Augustus, son of the Deity", implying the son of the divine Julius Caesar). This is perhaps the original dedication. The dedication, ET DIVAE AUGUSTAE, was added to the architrave, no doubt on the heels of the first one. It refers to Livia, Augustus' wife, who died in 29 AD and was deified at the beginning of Cladius' reign. The big bronze letters that made up these dedications were torn off long ago. Nevertheless, thanks to the holes left where they were attached and the imprints which are legible under a low-angled light, they can be read fairly easily.

The Temple was turned into a church probably from the Vth Century, under the name of Sainte-Marie-la-Vieille or Notre-Dame-de-la-Vie. The existence if this church which became a parish church is confirmed by texts of the beginning of the XIth Century. The re-use of the building meant that the cella was destroyed and the archways walled up. Doors and windows were made in these walls in the course of the church's history. At the time of the Revolution, the church was secularised and successively transformed into a Temple of Reason, a Commercial and Magistrates' Court, then, from 1822, a Museum and Library.

The monument was restored between 1853 and 1870. The proposal to restore the Roman temple by destroying all the medieval alterations and reconstructing the cella was chosen from among the three projects put forward by C. Questel, the Historic Monuments architec.

(Text taken from the associated web site)

Most Relevant Historical Period: Roman Empire > 27 B.C. Admission Fee: Free Opening days/times: The monument can be viewed at anytime from the low fence encircling it. Access to the monument is otherwise restricted. Web Site: [Web Link] Condition: Completely intact or reconstructed

Visit Instructions:
A complete sentence or two or an uploaded photo taken by the waymarker will be required in the log to confirm that the logger is participating in the hobby in good faith. Logs of only a few words like "Visited it" without an original photo are subject to deletion.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/10/2012 fredevils visited it 05/14/2010 Lusitana Paixão visited it

View all visits/logs