List of Ancient Roman temples

Maison carrée, Nîmes, France, one of the best preserved Roman temples

This is a list of ancient Roman temples, built during antiquity by the people of ancient Rome or peoples belonging to the Roman Empire. Roman temples were dedicated to divinities from the Roman pantheon.

Substantial remains

Most of the best survivals had been converted into churches and mosques. Rural areas in the Islamic world have some good remains, which had been left largely undisturbed. In Spain, some remarkable discoveries (Vic, Cordoba, Barcelona) were made in the 19th century, when old buildings being reconstructed or demolished were found to contain major remains encased in later buildings. In Rome, Pula, and elsewhere some walls incorporated in later buildings have always been evident. In most cases loose pieces of stone have been removed from the site, and some such as capitals may be found in local museums, along with non-architectural items excavated, such as terracotta votive offerings, which are often found in large numbers.

Temple of Hercules Victor
Temple of Saturn, Roman Forum, eight impressive columns and architrave remain standing
The Temple of Apollo in Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius is to the far left.

Rome

  • Pantheon or Temple to All The Gods – Campus Martius
  • Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the core of the building survives as a church, including parts of the frieze, – Roman Forum
  • Temple of Hadrian, a huge wall with eleven columns, now incorporated in a later building – Campus Martius
  • Temple of Hercules Victor, early circular temple, largely complete
  • Nymphaeum often called (erroneously) the Temple of Minerva Medica
  • Temple of Portunus (formerly called the Temple of Fortuna Virilis), near Santa Maria in Cosmedin and the Temple of Hercules Victor
  • Temple of Romulus, very complete circular exterior, early 4th century – Roman Forum
  • Temple of Saturn, eight impressive columns and architrave remain standing, west end of the Roman Forum
  • Temple of Vesta, small circular temple, part complete – Roman Forum

Italy (outside Rome)

  • Palestrina, Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, (see above) a large complex leading to a small shrine
  • Temple of Apollo (Pompeii), unusually, it is the smaller elements that are best preserved, and the surrounding forum
  • Temple of Bellona, Ostia, small back-street all-brick temple at the port.
  • Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, so-called, circular
  • Capitolium of Brixia, Brescia, buried by a landslide and partly reconstructed
  • Temple of Minerva, Assisi, preserved façade with six Corynthian columns, architrave and pediment.
  • Temple of Augustus, Pozzuoli, pseudoperipteral temple in Parian marble, the structure of the temple re-emerged after the 1964 fire destroyed the central nave of the Baroque church that incorporated it, it's been since restored and reopened.

Armenia

Croatia

  • Temple of Augustus, Pula, Croatia, largely complete (illustrated above); a large wall from another temple forms part of the town hall next door.
  • Temple of Jupiter in Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia. Small but very complete, amid other Roman buildings, c. 300. Most unusually, the barrel ceiling is intact.

France

Jordan

Lebanon

Portugal

Tunisia

  • Sbeitla, Tunisia, three small temples in a row on the forum, many other city ruins.
  • Dougga, Tunisia, several temples in extensive city ruins, two with substantial remains.

Ruins, fragments, bases and excavations

Britain

Italy

Rome

Temple of Castor and Pollux
Temple of Venus and Roma

Lebanon

Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek, Lebanon
Roman temple of Bziza
Roman temple of Hosn Niha
Roman temple of Qasr el Banat

Malta

Ruins of Tas-Silġ, a multi-period sanctuary site containing the remains of a Temple of Juno
  • Temple of Apollo in Melite (modern Mdina) – some ruins dismantled in the 18th century and stones reused in other buildings; part of podium still exists[7]
  • Temple of Juno in Gaulos (modern Victoria, Gozo) – ruins dismantled in 1697–1711 during the construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption; some remains survive beneath the cathedral[8]
  • Temple of Juno at Tas-Silġ, near Marsaxlokk – some foundations survive
  • Temple of Proserpina in Mtarfa – ruins dismantled in the 17th-18th centuries and stones reused in other buildings; an inscription, a fragment of a marble column and parts of a Punic cornice survive[9]

Romania

Not much remains to be seen, but there were temples at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa (6),[10] Alburnus Major (2),[10] Apulum,[11] Tibiscum[12] Porolissum[13] and probably Potaissa (suggested by five neighboring altars), as well as other sites.[10]

Scotland

Slovenia

  • Temple of Hercules – Celje, Slovenia.
  • Gallo-Roman Temple – Celje, Slovenia - remains of Gallo-Roman Temple.

Spain

Roman temple of Vic, part original, with parts restored

Syria

Temple of Bel, Palmyra
Horvat Omrit Temple
Temple of Al-Lat
Temple of Rabbos

Tunisia

The Capitoline Temple in Dougga

Turkey

Temple of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey
  • Aphrodisias, remains of two temples, with unusually good reliefs in situ and in the local museum (the city had especially fine marble).
  • Temple of Augustus in Ancyra - Ankara, Turkey
  • Ephesus, remains of four temples, that of Hadrian the best, with a nymphaeum of Trajan.
  • Temple of Trajan, Pergamon, part reconstructed. Remains of other temples.
  • Side, remains of three temples
    • Temple of Apollo
  • Donuktas Roman Temple - Tarsus [1]

Notes

  1. ^ Wheeler, 93-96
  2. ^ "Colchester Museums-Castle Museum". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2016-03-16.(Colchester Museums).
  3. ^ "Colchester Temples". Archived from the original on 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2014-06-24.(Roman-Britain).
  4. ^ Edward Robinson (1856). Biblical researches in Palestine and the adjacent regions: a journal of travels in the years 1838 and 1852. J. Murray. pp. 433–. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  5. ^ George Taylor (1971). The Roman temples of Lebanon: a pictorial guide. Les temples romains au Liban; guide illustré. Dar el-Machreq Publishers. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  6. ^ Daniel M. Krencker; Willy Zschietzschmann (1938). Römische Tempel in Syrien: nach Aufnahmen und Untersuchungen von Mitgliedern der Deutschen Baalbekexpedition 1901–1904, Otto Puchstein, Bruno Schulz, Daniel Krencker [u.a.] ... W. de Gruyter & Co. ISBN 9783110049893. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  7. ^ Testa, Michael (19 March 2002). "New find at Mdina most important so far in old capital". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Rabat - Katidral". Gozo Diocese. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015.
  9. ^ Sagona, Claudia (2015). The Archaeology of Malta. Cambridge University Press. p. 285. ISBN 9781107006690.
  10. ^ a b c Romanian Temples Archived 2016-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ site
  12. ^ image Archived 2016-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ image Archived 2016-03-17 at the Wayback Machine

References

  • "EERA" = Boëthius, Axel, Ling, Roger, Rasmussen, Tom, Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture, Yale/Pelican history of art, 1978, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300052901, 9780300052909, google books
  • Wheeler, Mortimer, Roman Art and Architecture, 1964, Thames and Hudson (World of Art), ISBN 0500200211