DÔME
(Puy de) Commune of Orcines, Puy-de-Dôme,
France.
Almost at the summit of this isolated mountain (altitude 1465 m), excavations were
undertaken in 1872 and resumed from 1902 to 1906.
They uncovered the ruins of a temple of imposing dimensions, its plan conditioned by the topography of
the site. The only entrance found was to the SE. It
opened on a staircase which gave access to a wide corridor. This ran W and broadened at the end. There,
another staircase led to a terrace to the N. This group
of buildings formed the base of the cella, which was
surrounded by a gallery and was probably open on the
E side. A bronze blade bearing a dedication to Mercury and a statuette of that god, also of bronze, indicate to what god the temple was dedicated.
No fact supports the hypothesis that the colossal
statue of Mercury by Zenodoros (Plin.
HN 34.18) was
located in this high place.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. A. Audollent, “Note sur les fouilles
du puy de Dôme,”
Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, comptes rendus (1902) 299-316; id., “Le Temple de Mercure Dumias,”
l'Auvergne littéraire IV.32 (1927)
48-58; A. Grenier,
Manuel d'arch. gallo-romaine, 3
e partie, fasc. 1 (1958) 424-31.
P. FOURNIER
