A circular replica of the Temple of Vesta in Rome, built in 1927 by Birmingham mayor George Ward on a hilltop in what is now the suburb of Vestavia Hills. Ward built his home on the ridge overlooking Birmingham, and the temple folly — complete with columns and the original statue of Sibyl — still stands in Temple Park. The surrounding gardens are maintained by the city.
The temple itself is small, but the hilltop setting and the eccentricity of the project — a Roman temple replica on an Alabama ridge, built by a sitting mayor — make it worth the 15-minute drive from downtown. The views over the southern Birmingham suburbs are good on a clear day.