Roman Temple

In front of you is the clearest proof that Córdoba was a great Roman capital. The city was founded by the general Marcus Claudius Marcellus in the second century BC, which is why the street beside you bears his name. Under Augustus it became Colonia Patricia and the capital of the province of Baetica, one of the richest in the Empire.

1A temple for the emperors

Work on this temple began under the emperor Claudius, in the mid-first century, and was finished some forty years later, under Domitian. It measured 32 metres long by 16 wide and stood on a podium in the middle of a large colonnaded square that opened towards a circus. Because of its position and scale, archaeologists believe it was devoted to the imperial cult, although no inscription survives to confirm it.

For centuries nobody knew it was here. In 1951, building work to extend the City Hall uncovered marble shafts, capitals and bases. The archaeologist Félix Hernández raised the portico columns again using original pieces and new ones, taking the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, in France, as his model.

After years of work, the site opened to visitors in June 2025; if you want to go down and see it up close, check the opening times on the city council’s website.

From the pavement you can see it whole, which is the best way to grasp its height.

2What to look for

• The Corinthian capitals, decorated with acanthus leaves.
• The podium of great stone blocks on which the temple stood.
• The contrast between the ancient marble and the modern pieces of the reconstruction.