A Roman temple in the center of Vienne

The Temple of Augustus and Livia, nestled in the heart of modern Vienne in the department of Isère and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, hides a rich history spanning over two millennia. Built at the beginning of the 1st century, this Roman peripteral sine postico hexastyle Corinthian temple was a testament to the glory and power of the period. However, over the centuries, the temple faced multiple transformations, becoming a church, a courthouse, and a library, before returning to its original form.

During its construction, the temple was dedicated to the imperial cult to honor the Emperor Augustus and his wife Livia. It has two states of construction. Of the original building built in southern stone, only the rear part remains: large wall to the west, corner pilasters, returns with pilasters and columns. The first state is dated last quarter of the 1st century BC, by comparison with the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, the Roman temple of Château-Bas in Vernègues, and other buildings in Narbonnaise.

With the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Christianization of Gaul, the temple became the parish church of Sainte-Marie-la-Vieille then Notre-Dame-de-la-Vie until the French Revolution. From 1792, the church became the temple of Reason, then the commercial court of Vienne, then the museum and the library of Vienne (until 1852), and finally, after 28 years of work, the building regained its original aspect of Roman temple. Today the temple is the subject of a classification under the historical monuments by the List of 1840.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons