The Temple of Mithras, or London’s Mithraeum, is a large Roman temple, built between 307-310 AD, dedicated to Mithras, the Persian god of light and the sun (who many believe to be the actual identity of Christ). It is low-built, as it would have represented the cave in which Mithras is thought to have slain the primordial bull.
Mithraism emerged as a serious rival to Christianity in the Roman Empire around the second century AD, and was a men-only cult in which those indoctrinated would be subject to fearsome initiation ceremonies.
It is the precursor to the traditional Christian church, with long aisles leading to an altar and apse, and was discovered accidentally in 1954 during rebuilding work on Walbrook – a busy road in London’s financial City district. Yet due to the necessity of the building work on Walbrook, the entire temple was uprooted with help from the Museum of London and moved to its current home, just down the road at Temple Court, Queen Victoria Street. This year, however, sees the temple moved back to Walbrook as part of an ambitious new development.
Among the sculptures found at the site are a head of Mithras himself and a marble relief of Mithras killing the bull – the ‘Tauroctony’; an episode akin in importance to the crucifixion of Christ. By the relief is an inscription which reads: “For the Salvation of our lords the four emperors and the noble Caesar, and to the god Mithras, the Invincible Sun from the east to the west.”