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London’s secret lost underground temple | History of the City
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Mar 1, 2025
It’s easy to forget the City of London’s deep history when walking among modern glass towers but hidden beneath the streets lies an ancient secret. The London Mithraeum, a Roman temple dedicated to the mysterious god Mithras, was discovered in 1954 during post-war reconstruction. At first mistaken for an early Christian church, it soon became clear that this was something far stranger—a mystery cult that once rivalled early Christianity. Join City AM in this episode of History of the City, as we descend into the depths of London and uncover the secrets of the Mithraeum, from its Persian origins to its significance in the Roman world. With expert insights from the Museum of London Archeology and Bloomberg’s conservation team, we explore how this temple was rediscovered, preserved and reconstructed for modern visitors. Read more of the story here 👇 https://www.cityam.com/londons-secret-lost-temple-underground-history-of-the-city/ Timestamps: 00:00 The Hidden Past of the City of London 01:30 The Discovery of the Mithraeum in 1954 03:45 Who Was #Mithras? The Persian Connection 06:20 Inside the Temple: Rituals & Initiations Get more of City AM 👇 🌐 http://www.cityam.com X(formerly Twitter): http://twitter.com/CityAM
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0:00
[Music]
0:01
it's easy to forget the city of London's
0:03
deep history when walking between
0:05
glistening glass tower blocks but
0:08
fragments of a dark and distant past
0:11
remain join cityam as we dive into
0:14
London's darkest depths and uncover the
0:17
secrets of a mysterious Roman
0:22
cult as London was being rebuilt
0:25
following the destruction of the second
0:26
world war a remarkable new discovery was
0:29
made
0:30
construction workers on the wallbrook
0:32
uncovered ancient ruins in
0:35
1954 at first they thought it was an
0:37
early Christian church but it was a
0:40
Temple dedicated to a much darker and
0:42
much stranger
0:44
cult as the news of the discovery spread
0:47
thousands of people ceed to see London's
0:49
latest
0:51
attraction but you'll notice that there
0:54
aren't any Roman ruins on the woolbrook
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anymore since 2012 the ruins have been
0:59
under benath Bloomberg's European
1:01
headquarters on Queen Victoria Street
1:03
close to the Temple's original
1:11
position I'm Helen Charles and I work
1:13
for the Bloomberg corporate philanthropy
1:15
I have the great privilege of running
1:16
London m in bloomo space and I was also
1:19
part of the project team developing the
1:21
site part of the look of Myas who was
1:23
easily identified by his chicle cat and
1:27
also that is the way the direction that
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his eyes were looking as well it was on
1:31
the last day of the excavation so they
1:32
found the temple outline but they didn't
1:35
know who the temple was dedicated to and
1:38
it was on the last day of the excavation
1:39
that they actually uncovered the head
1:41
and then they knew that it was a temple
1:43
of
1:46
Myra the mithas worship by the Romans is
1:49
thought to have roots in the Persian God
1:51
Mithra who is one of the most important
1:53
Persian deities is thought that the
1:55
Romans took on some of the Legends and
1:57
iconography associated with the Persian
1:59
God but created new forms of ritual and
2:01
worship to suit their own purposes The
2:04
Cult of mithras flourished between the
2:06
1st and the 4th Century ad mithras was
2:08
particularly popular with soldiers
2:10
meaning the temples were very common in
2:12
Frontier areas the remains of 10 temples
2:15
have been found in Roman Britain alone
2:17
it was for many years a major competitor
2:19
to early
2:22
[Music]
2:27
Christianity to see the ruins of a
2:29
temple and learn about the strange Cult
2:31
of mithas you have to go into the cellar
2:33
of Bloomberg's offices so I'm Sophie
2:36
Jackson I work for mola Museum of London
2:38
archaeology and I was very lucky to be
2:40
the project manager for the excavation
2:42
and the Reconstruction here so could you
2:44
just tell us something about what we're
2:45
looking at what the space would have
2:47
been like 2,000 years ago yeah sure well
2:50
what we're looking at is the remains of
2:53
the temple that was found here in
2:56
1954 you can see it's got a sort of
2:58
central section which we call the Nave
3:01
and then two side ises and what would
3:04
have happened we think most of the the
3:06
sort of rituals would have happened in
3:07
the central section okay and then um the
3:10
worshippers would have been sitting in
3:11
the side aisles all looking forward
3:14
towards a big sculpture of mithas how
3:17
did they worship mithas well that that's
3:19
a really tricky question because it was
3:21
a a secret mystery cult and you had to
3:23
be initiated into it and nobody wrote
3:26
anything down about what actually
3:27
happened so we we've had to go with
3:28
archaeological Clues and sort of bits of
3:31
inscriptions and so on but what we think
3:34
happened when people were initiated into
3:35
the different stages in the cult there
3:37
were seven grades so we think they're
3:39
different initiation Ceremonies for each
3:41
one there would have almost certainly
3:43
been some
3:48
chanting uh some sacrifices not of bulls
3:51
or anything large but probably chickens
3:53
you know small things but there would
3:55
have also been feasting going on in
3:57
there I mean this was a cult which was
3:58
about really serious spiritual things
4:01
but also about
4:05
networking and who would have been the
4:07
the people who are worshiping here well
4:10
they they would have been Merchants um
4:13
civil servants and members of the
4:15
military or all men I think or well
4:18
pretty certain actually it was all all
4:20
male cult but um typically men who were
4:23
moving around the Empire doing business
4:26
mithas was a was a God who was equated
4:28
with trust and contracts and honor it
4:31
was quite a good one to have if you were
4:33
doing business deals very appropriate
4:34
for the city of London it is it is very
4:36
appropriate this is the best preserved
4:38
you know Temple of mithras found in
4:40
northern Europe and it's very
4:41
appropriate that it was found in the
4:42
city of
4:45
London so do we know much about what
4:47
followers of mithas would have actually
4:49
believed we don't know for sure but we
4:51
have sort of Clues we think joining this
4:55
cult gave you a different experience of
4:58
sort of Roman god than the other you
5:00
know traditional Gods it was much more
5:02
personal relationship one of my
5:03
colleagues once described it as the
5:04
other gods a bit like you know the tax
5:06
collectors you you you have to pay them
5:08
your dues but you don't want them to
5:09
actually visit or get involved in your
5:10
life whereas with mithras you did want
5:13
that personal connection and mithraism
5:15
arrives in the Roman world at the same
5:17
time as Christianity and they're both
5:18
very similar in that way we think in the
5:20
different stages of initiation you
5:22
something was revealed possibly about
5:24
creation about your place in the
5:25
universe perhaps what it was giving
5:28
people in terms of belief the
5:30
worshippers would have would have fallen
5:31
within the whole General Roman religious
5:37
world according to the Legends mithras
5:40
was not simply born he emerged from the
5:42
rock with a torch in one hand and a
5:44
knife in the other but that's not the
5:46
most important part of his Legend at the
5:49
center of every Temple dedicated to
5:50
mithas was a to octony these images are
5:54
particularly important for helping us
5:56
understand the cult given that there was
5:57
nothing written down by its celebrants
5:59
[Music]
6:03
it's the iconic image and it must
6:05
symbolize what the whole cult is about
6:08
myth Ras is killing the bull perhaps
6:10
bringing life and creation into the
6:12
world some of the imagery that would
6:14
have been associated with this may have
6:15
included signs of the zodiac which
6:17
brings the whole issue of the cosmos and
6:20
you know our place in
6:21
[Music]
6:24
it how was the cult of myth seen at the
6:27
time well it went in and out of or
6:30
acceptability but most of the time it
6:32
was it was seen as a sort fairly
6:34
positive force I don't think it was seen
6:36
as sort of dark or dangerous cult and
6:38
when the excavation happened here in the
6:40
1950s after the temple went out of use
6:42
presumably the mythras or the next users
6:44
actually buried a whole load of
6:45
sculptures under the floor and those
6:47
included the traditional the Roman
6:49
Pantheon of gods there were Mercury
6:51
manura gods associated with the river TS
6:54
and that's an indication that mithras
6:56
was part of the the general religious
6:58
world
7:01
and what happened to the temple it
7:03
clearly ended up as ruin underneath the
7:05
city of London but when did it stop
7:06
being used and why we know from dating
7:08
evidence that it was built in about 250
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ad about 200 years after Rome and London
7:13
was founded and then it lasted about 80
7:16
years as a temple to mithas it it was
7:19
built on rather dodgy ground and it was
7:21
remodeled and reused for another 30 40
7:24
years possibly as a temple to bacus even
7:27
more drinking and wine going on so it
7:29
wasn't actually a temple to mithas for
7:31
that long what's really interesting is
7:33
on the excavation for the Bloomberg
7:35
building and from other work in the area
7:39
some small finds have been found which
7:41
which are earlier than this building
7:43
which suggest there may possibly have
7:45
been a temple to mithas here before this
7:47
building okay so it's a popular
7:52
site so what would a visitor get that
7:54
we're not getting now the exhibition
7:56
designers wanted people to get a sense
7:59
of what might have been like to be in a
8:01
mythra bit mysterious when you come in
8:04
the lights are down and then there's a
8:06
moment of pause and then some sounds
8:09
start and it's the sort of whispery
8:11
sounds of you know wind and time passing
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then we have the sounds of people coming
8:17
into the temple sitting down and then
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chanting starting and that's one of the
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few bits of text that exists which help
8:24
to inform the experience here
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it's quite a special experience so you
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get the sense of the building sort of
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appearing and sort of a disappearing in
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front of you it's really really special
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and very you know contemplative you
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sense the eons passing the Mithra is the
8:47
best example of London's deep history
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hidden beneath its streets but whether
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they've been found or not every street
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has Secrets under its pavement one just
8:57
needs to know where to look want to
9:00
learn more about the secrets and hidden
9:02
history of London check out our video
9:04
about the monument and Tower Bridge by
9:07
clicking here or here
#Archaeology
#Religion & Belief