LEFT Putting the final touches to the temple. The new reconstruction was completed in summer 2016 and the display was in place by autumn 2017 ready to open to the public on 14 November.

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London Mithraeum: reimagining the famous Roman temple

On 14 November, London’s Temple of Mithras – now known as the ‘London Mithraeum’ – reopened to the public as the first new interpretation of a Roman ruin in the capital for nearly 20 years. Sophie Jackson, the lead archaeologist on the project, reports on the temple’s 63-year journey from its initial discovery in 1954 to its recent reconstruction and installation on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters.

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Current Archaeology

March 28, 2018

After you descend the darkened stairs and pass through an entryway, lights illuminate the room and you are presented with the ghostly outline of an atmospheric temple, with the physical ruins of its foundations below. Through judicious use of light, shadows, and sound, the new reconstruction of the Temple of Mithras transports visitors back into Roman London. But the structure did not always have such a lavish and immersive presentation. It took a collaborative team drawn from across two continents, and involving everyone from archaeologists and historians to stonemasons and light artists, to restore and reimagine the temple, bringing it back to some of its former grandeur. The new recons

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