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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The temple of Diane, located in Aix-les-Bains en Savoie (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), is a Roman building built in the first half of the second century. Traditionally regarded as a temple dedicated to Diane, her current interpretation leans rather towards a mausoleum-temple or monumental tomb, linked to the local aristocracy exploiting the nearby thermal baths. Its subsequent integration with medieval buildings (feudal castle, town hall) allowed its partial preservation, despite the disappearance of its eastern facade and roof.

The monument, classified as a Historic Monument in 1875, is distinguished by its large white limestone architecture, with an elevated podium of 3.29 m and side walls preserved up to 13 m high. His irregular plan (17.20 m × 13.65 m) and the absence of a sacred peristyle question his status as a classical temple. Excavations (1988-1989) revealed an anterior polygonal building on the site, as well as a monumental re-use threshold, suggesting a landslide change.

The funerary function of the temple is supported by the discovery of a marble accephalous female statue (perhaps Persephone or empress), the burials of the 5th century, and its association with the Campanus arch, also interpreted as a funerary monument. Local influential families, such as Pompii (arc-related) or Titii, could be their sponsors. The temple had been home to an archaeological museum since 1948, now accessible upon request.

Its post-antiquity history is marked by successive reuses: medieval cellar, theatre in the 19th century (1824), then Lapic Museum (1882) before becoming the current archaeological museum. The architectural changes (metal mezzanine, foothills) date from this period. Despite these transformations, three of its outer walls and its western pediment remain intact, providing a rare testimony of Romano-gallo-Roman funeral practices on the margins of the towns.

Historiographic debates focus on his original assignment: a temple dedicated to Diane (medieval hypothesis), a thermal nymph, or a family mausoleum. The thesis of the tomb-temple dominates today, in line with the Roman funerary mode of the 2nd-IIIth centuries and the location of the site out of the rural village of Aquae (Aix-les-Bains), whose urbanization remains poorly known. The thermal baths, operated by the local elite, formed with the temple a private monumental ensemble, outside the civic center.

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