Temple of Venus, Baalbek: Overall view of exterior

The small 'Temple of Venus' (3rd century AD) has a circular cella surrounded by Corinthian columns and is entered through a tetrastyle porch of two rows of columns, approached up a flight of steps. Both the entablature around the back of the cella and the podium on which the columns stand are constructed in a series of concave curves, a baroque design unparalleled in surviving ancient monuments.