The Temple to The The God Mithras Under London

Mithraism was a mystery religion practised by the Romans during the Roman Empire; especially, from the 1st to the 4th century CE.  This religion, which involved the worship of the god Mithras, had many common elements with Christianity and it was also a rival of early Christianity.

Mithras, it was believed, was born from the earth, out of a broken rock. He had a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, which represented his two roles as sun god and war god.

Replica of the head of Mithras, London.

In 55 BCE the Roman general, Emperor Julius Caesar invaded Britain, with two Roman legions. The second invasion of Britain occurred in the following year. Then the Romans left the Britons in peace for almost a century.

In 43 A.D, the Emperor Claudius organised the final and successful Roman invasion of Britain, with the major battle, fought close to Rochester, on the banks of the River Medway. Thirty years later, the West Country of England, as well as much of Wales, had been conquered by the Romans.

The Romans brought new plants, animals, religions and the idea of reading and counting, to the Celtic Tribes of Britain. They also built roads.

Londinium was the Roman name given to the settlement the Romans established on the River Thames, about 43 AD. Now the city of London. By the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium had a population of between 30,000 or 60,000 people.

Christianity did not arrive in Britain until the second century. But before this, both the native Britons and Romans practised a variety of Pagan religions.

In 1954, a Roman-era Temple of Mithras was found under London, in Walbrook, which was built about 240AD. The Mithras god’s head found at the site was sent to the Museum of London; but the original and irreplaceable timber benches were simply thrown away.

Ruins of the Temple of Mithras from Roman times, London (2010)

This Roman Temple of Mithras has now been restored to its original Roman ground level, seven metres below the streets of modern London and it can be found underneath the new Bloomberg London office, in Walbrook.

London's Roman-era Temple of Mithras

By 391AD, Christianity was the official Roman religion. In 410 AD, the Romans left Britain to defend the collapse of Rome and its empire. 

Artifacts found at the London, Roman Temple of Mithras, on display at Museum of London

Roman Emperor Honorius sent a goodbye letter to the people of Britain. He wrote, “fight bravely and defend your lives...you are on your own now.”