Archaeology Museum : Temple of Diana

Right next to the Town Hall stands a true treasure that’s easy to overlook: the Temple of Diana, a Roman building nearly 2,000 years old! It’s one of only three fully preserved Roman temples in France, making it an exceptionally rare site. The name “Temple of Diana” dates back to the Middle Ages, but in truth, no one knows which Roman god it was originally dedicated to. Some archaeologists even believe it may have been a monumental tomb rather than a temple.

This rectangular structure, measuring 17 by 13 meters, impresses with its three perfectly preserved walls. Built using the Roman “opus vittatum” technique, small stones carefully set in place, they are a testament to the extraordinary craftsmanship of ancient builders. Over the centuries, this building has taken on many roles: a Roman sanctuary, later a Christian church, the wine cellar of the marquises’ château in the 16th century, a performance hall when the château became a casino in 1824, and finally, a museum since 1948.

Today it houses the Aix-les-Bains Archaeology Museum, home to a remarkable collection of carved stonework, statues, and everyday objects unearthed in excavations around Lake Bourget. These artifacts tell the story of ancient Aix-les-Bains, already famous for its thermal waters in Roman times.

You can only visit this extraordinary monument on guided tours organized by the Tourist Office, an unmissable opportunity to step back through 2,000 years of history in a neighborhood that holds some of the city’s most beautiful traces of the past.