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The Temple of Mithras, an important
Roman relic, was revealed by a World War II bomb and excavated
in 1954.
In the third century AD the
rival cults of Christianity and Mithraism fought for supremacy. The
Persian god Mithras, who protected the good from evil, was
particularly popular with Roman soldiers and troops garrisoned
on the British frontier built a temple to their champion near
this spot in AD 240- 50.
The reconstructed foundations
of the Temple of Mithras are on view near the excavated site
on Queen Victoria Street. The foundations reveal the
Roman influence on the later design of churches: a central
nave, side aisles and a rounded apse. Christian churches were
built in the shape of a cross, with the altar facing east.
The Museum
of London details the story of the Temple of Mithras
and the marble sculptures discovered buried underneath.
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