L'église de la Madeleine (L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine)

Maison du Caree at Nimes, the ancient temple

In 1806 Napoleon commissioned this temple from Pierre-Alexandre Barthelemy Vignon to be a Temple to the Glory of the Great Army, based on an antique temple (Maison Carree, Nimes). Vignon died in 1828 before completing the work, and was replaced by Jacques-Marie Huve. The July Monarchy rededicated the temple as a monument of national reconciliation following the revolution, and it was finally consecrated as a church in 1842.

The Neoclassical architecture was intended to glorify the great achievements of Napoleon's Army by harkening back to ancient glories.