LOCATIONS
About the Temple of Augustus
The Temple of Augustus, originally dedicated to the goddess Roma and the Emperor Augustus, was erected, along with another temple of the same type and dimensions, on the plateau to the northwestern side of the Forum. The rear of the second, eastern temple is visible on the back wall of the City Hall. An older temple, raised in the first years of the Roman colony of Pola, was removed to make way for these new temples; its foundations survived next to the Temple of Augustus and beneath the City Hall, now identified by a different colour of stone paving.
The Temple of Augustus is 13.17 m high, 8.5 m wide, and 17.65 m long. It consists of a large enclosed cella (sanctuary) and the smaller pronaos (vestibule) enclosed by six Corinthian columns, four of which are on the front side. The side walls of the cella extend into the pronaos, where they end in fluted engaged columns. Above the capitals is a three-part architrave, and above it, a frieze, decorated with acanthus tendrils, fruits, and birds.
The roof and two pediments of the temple are framed by a cornice with consoles and coffered fields. The triangular pediments with a round medallion in the centre were originally relief-decorated. The architrave on the front side bears the inscription: ROMAE ET AVGUSTO CAESARI DIVI FILIO PATRI PATRIAE. We know from this official imperial title that the temple was built and dedicated between 2 BCE and 14 CE.
The walls were originally built of limestone ashlar, and suffered significant damage over the centuries as the result of numerous repurposing episodes and fires.
The prohibition of paganism in the late 4th century saw the temple converted into a church. Between the 11th and 13th centuries the temple was connected by doors to the second floor of a palace erected along its eastern wall. A fire in the early 17th century burned the roof, leading to the collapse of the wall separating the enclosed part of the temple from the vestibule. The west wall was rebuilt using limestone rubble masonry in the course of the 18th century restoration. The vestibule was walled up so that the building could serve as a warehouse, later the city archive, and its interior was divided into three floors. A granary and a buttress were added to the outside. The temple was damaged by a bomb in 1945. The reconstruction that followed restored the edifice to its original form.
The temple now houses an exhibition of ancient sculpture.
