Temple de Sanxay

About

The ancient temple of Sanxay is a cultural building of Roman antiquity, located in the French commune of Sanxay (Department of Vienna in the New Aquitaine region). Its construction dates from the second half of the 1st century, and, like the entire ancient site of Sanxay, it is frequented until the 3rd century, that is, during the period of "Roman peace". Along with the theatre and the thermal baths (for therapeutic purposes), it is indeed one of the still visible components of this important site, probably associated with a secondary agglomeration (vicus) of the city of Pictons (headquarter: Limonum/Poitiers), which developed from a sanctuary of waters dated from the time of Emperor Augustus.

It is built on the general plane of a fanum (temple with centered plane), but it is distinguished by its octagonal cella surrounded by a peristyle gallery in the shape of a Greek cross, in the center of an almost square peribole of nearly 3,900 m2 closed by four portals. It is difficult to specify to which god he was dedicated, but a double dedication to Apollo and Mercury, whose cults are related to water, offers a plausible hypothesis of response to this problem...