A templet is a small temple-shaped structure, usually intended to house some object.[1][2] As a general rule, templets house religious or funerary elements, such as funeral remains, icons, images or relics, although sometimes they are simply commemorative. By extension, many small, unique buildings have also received the name templetes, regardless of their use, as well as some decorative elements that adopt or recall the shape of a temple, such as some lantern designs "Lantern (architecture)") at the top of a dome.

The pavilions are usually closed constructions, while if they lack walls they are usually referred to as pavilions "Pavilion (architecture)"), baldachins or kiosks. Bandstands are also sometimes called "bandstands."

The construction of temples goes back to the origins of human culture. Temples are already known in Mesopotamia[3]​ and in ancient Egypt (such as that of Tutankhamun), and their use has accompanied iconic and idolatrous religions throughout history.

Although the use of the term "templete" is very generic and is applied to constructions from very diverse cultures and periods, these structures usually share two common features: a marked symbolic function, and a relatively low cost due to their small size. These characteristics have meant that the temples have served on numerous occasions as a testing laboratory for new stylistic concepts,[4] generating pieces of high artistic value. Thus, perhaps the best-known temple is that of San Pietro in Montorio, designed in 1502 by Bramante, and which according to many authors represents the synthesis of Renaissance architecture.

Also known are the "subway temples" of the modernist era "Modernism (art)"),[5][6]​ the telephone temples that supported the primitive urban wiring[7]​ and the neoclassical temples with which they liked to decorate the so-called "English gardens" or romantic ones during the centuries and .[8]​.