Temple of Augustus

You are on Carrer del Paradís, in the highest part of old Barcelona. It may not feel like it, but you are standing on the summit of Mont Tàber, the small rise on which the Romans built Barcino's most important temple.

1The top of the town

Look down by the entrance to number 10: a millstone set into the paving marks the highest point of the old Mont Tàber. Sources usually give a height of about 16.9 metres above sea level. Hardly a mountain, but enough for the temple to dominate the forum and be seen from afar.

2A temple to the emperor

Inside the courtyard four Corinthian columns await you, about nine metres tall and still carrying their architrave. They belonged to a temple probably built in the 1st century and dedicated to the imperial cult of Augustus. It was hexastyle, with six columns across the front, and stood on a high podium.

In the Middle Ages houses swallowed the temple, and its columns ended up as parts of walls and courtyards. Around 1830 the architect Antoni Cellers studied the remains and drew up a plan. In the early 20th century the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya moved its headquarters into this building, and the remains were given pride of place. One of the columns spent years on display in Plaça del Rei before rejoining the other three in the mid-20th century.

For centuries, local families lived with Roman columns inside their homes and thought little of it.

Today the site is run by the Barcelona City History Museum.

3What to look for

• The millstone in the street, marking the summit of Mont Tàber.
• The Corinthian capitals, carved with acanthus leaves.
• The architrave that still links the columns.