Skip to content
Menu
Hidden gem1st – 4th c. ADUnknown

Gallo-Roman temple of Ursins

Temple gallo-romain d'Ursins, Fanum d'Ursins

temple · Jura-Nord vaudois District, Vaud, Switzerland

What it is
The temple of Ursins is a Gallo-Roman sanctuary in a village about 5 km from Yverdon-les-Bains whose walls still stand around the village church, which was built on them; fr.wikipedia describes it as a fanum, perhaps dedicated to Mercury.
What you’ll see
The Roman walls are the thing to see. In places they stand tall, built of small squared stones, above a lane called the Chemin du Fanum; the south wall runs as a lower line along the grass beside a lane, and the church tower stands behind the Roman masonry (Wikimedia Commons photographs).
Worth the trip?
As a short detour, yes, if you are near Yverdon: the temple's walls still stand, around and under a village church, and the visit is a walk round them. It is not a destination in itself, and no operator runs it.
Getting there & cost
The temple is in the village of Ursins, about 5 km from Yverdon-les-Bains. The bus stop Ursins, Le Battoir is mapped about 100 m away; no car park is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap).Unknown · No charge is published or mappedHours, tickets and parking
A tall wall of small squared stones rising behind a plastered retaining wall that carries a green street sign reading "Chemin du Fanum", with a tree overhanging.
The temple walls above the Chemin du Fanum. · Photo: Olivier Anh · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The weathered top of a thick wall of mortared rubble faced with squared stones, with a lawn and a road below.
The wall top, showing how the masonry is built. · Photo: Olivier Anh · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The top of a long low wall of rubble and squared stones running along grass beside a paved lane, with houses and a barn behind.
The south wall. · Photo: Olivier Anh · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

What is there today

The Roman walls are the thing to see. In places they stand tall, built of small squared stones, above a lane called the Chemin du Fanum; the south wall runs as a lower line along the grass beside a lane, and the church tower stands behind the Roman masonry (Wikimedia Commons photographs). The church was built on the temple’s structures at the very beginning of the 18th century (fr.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

As a short detour, yes, if you are near Yverdon: the temple’s walls still stand, around and under a village church, and the visit is a walk round them. It is not a destination in itself, and no operator runs it.

Getting there

The temple is in the village of Ursins, about 5 km from Yverdon-les-Bains. The bus stop Ursins, Le Battoir is mapped about 100 m away; no car park is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap). The walls stand outdoors, and no operator publishes hours or a charge.

Visiting details

Opening hours
No operator publishes hours; the Roman walls stand outdoors around the village church.
Tickets
No charge is published or mapped.

Before you go

  • No car park is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap).

History

The temple was built in the 1st century AD and was in use until the 4th century; it was a fanum, possibly dedicated to Mercury (fr.wikipedia). At the very beginning of the 18th century its structures became the base of a church (fr.wikipedia). The sanctuary is a cultural property of national significance (KGS 6506).

More photographs

A stone wall of small squared blocks with a wooden railing on top, in front of the stone tower of a church with an arched window.
The church tower behind the Roman masonry. · Photo: Olivier Anh · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

  • An octagonal mosaic panel framed by braided borders, showing a man in a crested helmet holding a staff and a shield, with two other figures beside him, set in a floor of geometric patterns.

    Photo: Leemburg-CH · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    10 km · villa · Jura-Nord vaudois District, Vaud

    Orbe-Boscéaz

    The mosaics are all there is to see: the operator says plainly that the nine floors, found in the 19th and 20th centuries, are the only remains visible today.

  • A wall painting pieced together from many cracked fragments, showing in red outline a charioteer in a helmet driving horses at speed, above a green band.

    Photo: Odrade123 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    25 km · villa · Lavaux-Oron District, Vaud

    Roman villa of Pully

    The heart of the visit is a semicircular pavilion of the villa that has been uncovered and can be visited (Lausanne Tourisme).

  • A wide lawn with a long, dark timber-clad building and a white annex on the right, and a small white church with a pointed bell tower on a terrace on the left.

    Photo: Roland Zumbuehl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    27 km · villa · Broye District, Fribourg

    Roman villa of Vallon

    The museum stands on the site of the villa and its L-shaped building follows the plan of the Roman one (fr.wikipedia).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 246984898CC BY
Wikidata Q3517675CC0
OpenStreetMap node/2786918197ODbL
Wikipedia (fr) — Temple gallo-romain d'UrsinsCC BY-SA 4.0
KGS inventory 6506 — Ursins, sanctuaire romain (BABS)licence not recorded