Roman Temple of Vic

Roman Temple of Vic tickets and tours: which one to book

No ticket for the Roman temple of Vic is sold online, and there is no tour built around it alone. The temple is a small, municipally owned monument in the upper part of the old town, used for exhibitions, and it opens only at limited times, mostly around weekends and during temporary shows. When the doors are open, entry is modest or free; when they are shut, the portico can still be seen well from the little square in front. The tourist office on the Plaça Major can tell you the current opening times and whether a guided visit of the town is running. Most people see the temple as part of a day in Vic, usually on foot after arriving by train from Barcelona.

The town has guided walks run by the local tourist office that link the Roman temple with the cathedral and its museum, the medieval streets and the arcaded main square, and these are the sensible option if you want the history explained. Paid sites such as the Episcopal Museum and the cathedral are charged separately. Some day trips from Barcelona that head into the Osona district or towards the Pyrenees foothills stop in Vic, often on market day. Check whether time in the old town is included before booking, since some only pause for lunch. The page lists any GetYourGuide tours whose route passes the temple.

Visiting Roman Temple of Vic: what to see and how to behave

The temple dates from the early 2nd century AD, when Vic was the Roman town of Ausa. Like most Roman temples it stood on a raised podium reached by a flight of steps at the front, with a columned porch leading into a single enclosed chamber, the cella. Its later history is what makes it remarkable. In the 11th century the noble Montcada family built their castle right around it, and the temple walls were swallowed into the fortress, which later served as the seat of the royal officials known as veguers and then as the town prison. For centuries nobody knew a Roman building stood inside. It reappeared in 1882, when the old castle was being demolished and workers found the cella walls standing in remarkably good condition.

The portico you see today is a reconstruction, put together using the original columns and capitals that came to light during the works, so the smooth shafts and Corinthian capitals are partly ancient and partly modern. An inscription above the lintel records the restoration. Look at the podium and the walls of the cella, where the Roman masonry is clearest, and notice how tightly the building is wedged among the houses of the upper town, a reminder of how it survived. If the interior is open, it is a simple hall used for art and history exhibitions. Vic lies about 70 km north of Barcelona. Trains on the R3 line take a little over an hour, and the temple is a ten-minute walk uphill from the station, past the Plaça Major.

Roman Temple of Vic: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

Opening hours are short and change through the year, so check with the tourist office before planning a visit around the interior. The exterior can be seen at any time of day. The best day to come is Tuesday or Saturday, when the big market fills the Plaça Major and the surrounding streets and the town is at its liveliest; Saturday also gives the best chance of finding the temple open. Spring and autumn are pleasant, while winter mornings on the Vic plain are often cold and foggy.

The Mercat del Ram, a large agricultural and livestock fair held in the week before Palm Sunday, and the medieval market in December draw big crowds. The temple itself takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Allow half a day for Vic as a whole: the cathedral with its dark murals by Josep Maria Sert, the Episcopal Museum with its outstanding Romanesque collection, the arcaded main square and a lunch featuring the local cured sausage. The town also makes a good stop on the way to Montseny or the Pyrenees.