Nimes, Maison Carrée

The Maison Carrée was built in Nîmes in about 100 BC, and is about the best-preserved really old Roman home we have found. It was built by the Romans, but it looks a lot like the Greek temples we have seen. While it is the home for the Museum of Antiquities, we would expect the building is older than many of its contents. Napoléon ordered the façade of the St. Mary Magdalen church in Paris to be a copy of Maison Carrée — a copy in style, but larger. Fifty-two columns, eight in the front facade, give the Madeleine a look of great majesty. Maison Carrée is surrounded by 30 columns, with six in the front facade, but the style was copied faithfully.

It’s interesting to note that while we were parked next to an old house that was part of an Empire created by the Romans, we were just down the street from a store that is part of an Empire created by a Mouse. Mickey, that is. A Disney Store is just a few blocks from the Maison Carrée.

This photo was taken with color film, but 25 years later, after years in the Desert heat, I can't find a spec of color.