TEMPLE DE LEZINIER
The Temple de Lézinier is a highly unusual, entirely circular structure, with no wall or other structure to support it. Completed in 1837, it was built on the ruins of one of the 200 temples destroyed in the Cévennes during the Great Burn in autumn 1703.
Like Catholic and Orthodox churches, Protestant temples offer a wide variety of architectural shapes: hexagonal, octagonal, rectangular?
Inspired by Antiquity, the construction of "round" or "circular" temples had the dual aim of setting themselves apart from Catholic churches (by inventing new shapes) and obtaining a centered plan, better suited to listening to the Word. Round buildings were undoubtedly the best response to the new liturgical needs of Protestants, to gather the community around the minister.
The Temple de Lézinier, with its distinctive, entirely circular architecture, is unique in that it does not lean against a wall or any other building. Completed in 1837, it was built on the ruins of one of the 200 temples destroyed in the Cévennes during the Great Burn in autumn 1703.