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| GENERAL INFORMATION | 
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| ARCHITECTURE | 
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| THE FANE IN THE URBAN TOPOGRAPHY |
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| A hurried abandonment |
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GENERAL INFORMATION
About 30 BC the inhabitants of Vienne build a small temple designed round a central point in an as yet uninhabited area to the south of the city. Today, this partially excavated sanctuary is again buried under the foundations of an apartment building. This type of sanctuary, called a fanum, which was very common in the northern provinces, is often designed on a central axis. It is said to belong to the Celtic tradition although, paradoxically, it seems to have developed under Roman rule.The quadrangular, circular or polygonal design is always made up of a central tower dominating the edifice and an open or enclosed peripheral gallery. Protected by an enclosure, most of these temples were built in the country. When they were built in the towns they were always situated on the periphery (Autun). But it sometimes happened, as in Vienne or, in a better known example, Trier in Germany, that urban development surrounded these sanctuaries a posteriori.
