Corinne Potay (Municipal Records Office): The creation of Place de la Maison Carrée

The theatre was the first step in the development of the area around the monument and shows the determination of the elected authorities in Nîmes to create a new urban and cultural forum that would form a link with that of the Roman world. This approach is in line with the neoclassical spirit with which the elite of Nîmes were imbued and the pride of the ancient past that affected the whole population. The square was laid out in the 1820s after archaeological excavations and the restoration of the Roman temple.