London is packed with interesting little places that pop up on my radar occasionally. I have no recollection of how I came across the Mithraeum, but after visiting it at the weekend, I am glad that I did.
Roman About
The London Mithraeum is, now, underneath the Bloomberg SPACE building. Discovered in 1954 the Mithraeum was initially moved from its original position to outside nearby where it remained until it was moved once again back to (almost) its original position but underground and away from the elements.
We arrived early and it was quiet so we managed to sneak in early. I’m not sure quite what I was expecting but on the ground floor there was a small wall of artifacts found from the excavation of the place. One floor down was a waiting area with some interactive displays and the all important toilets. Here we waited to be taken down a further floor to a darkened room which contained the Mithraeum itself. We were told that this level was roughly the level the temple would have been when it was originally built which just shows how much London has risen in the intervening years.
There was a brief introduction followed by some mood lighting and Roman chanting and then the lights, which were incredibly effective, came up (a bit) and we were free to wander around the place. It was all over within 10-15 minutes. Despite this being so short I greatly enjoyed the experience.
Reflecting our Mood
We had booked to go up Horizon 22 immediately after visiting the Mithraeum but seeing as the place looked like below we didn’t think there would be much point and so skipped that and went to Tate Britain instead. On the way, we stopped off at the Reflection Garden a tiny public garden with a reflection pond offering views of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s a beautiful spot but probably better in the sunshine than drizzle!
