Monuments to visit Riez

Standing in the middle of the field, these four superb columns in grey monolithic granite, ending in white marble Corinthian capitals and surmounted by a sculpted architrave, are the remains of a temple probably erected to the glory of Apollo, probably at the very end of the 1st century BC. A majestic testimony to the city founded by the Emperor Augustus, which was called civitas Julia Augusta Reiorum Apollinaris. A signpost recalls their origins and shows what the ancient temple was, where the columns at its entrance were located.

The baptistery is a building annexed to a church and intended above all for baptisms. Part of a large episcopal group erected on the remains of ancient Roman baths, the baptistery was built in the^5th century AD. Once surrounded by a portico, it has been reworked and restored over the years. It remains one of the few moving testimonies of this period, since the seat of the bishopric was dismantled during the French Revolution. Further east, some remains of the early Christian cathedral remain.