The London Mithraeum

 We had an early flight to London from Glasgow and were too early too check into our hotel. We knew we would be; we just dropped our bags, hopped onto the (now amazingly expensive) tube and went into the City. I'd been looking for things to do and The London Mithraeum had come up on lots of Top 10 lists. We'd never been so it seemed like a good idea. 

And it was. It's in the Bloomberg building and it's free and I have to say they have done an amazing job. Mind you, I expect they can afford it; that said they didn't have to open up the site, or not charge. Paternalistic philanthropy, culture-washing of possibly obscene profits - yes. But then I get to see a fabulous excavated Roman temple so should I complain? A tricky one. 

You go in at street level where there's a changing exhibition of contemporary art, and a permanent display of some of the artefacts that were found when excavating the Temple of Mithras. The excellent brochure tells me this was founded in the 3rd century AD. Go down one level for an explanation of the cult of Mithras, displays, video projections, sound tracks. It was great. And then finally down another level to the remains of the temple itself where they put on an 'immersive experience'. Lights, incense, chattering and chanting. Probably not very authentic, but enjoyable all the same. 

A few photos.

This is the current exhibition, called Albion Waves. I don't know why, because it's pots. Some are very lovely and they are all British, hence Albion I suppose. It's all very arty arty stuff, according to the brochure, but enjoyable nonetheless. Here are a couple of the pots, one just because I liked the decoration, and one (the black one) because it's by Edmund de Waal, of The Hare with Amber Eyes fame. 

Then inside the temple 

some of the original walls

a replica of the Taureion, which would have been - possibly - the focal point of  the Temple. (Mithras' main claim to fame seems to have been killing a bull. As a side note, what is it with the Mediterranean and killing bulls ....?)

We really enjoyed our visit. After we came out we had a bit of a wander around the City, including walking down Gracechurch Street, home of Elizabeth Bennet's Gardiner relations in Pride and Prejudice, and Lombard Street where the Italian bankers first settled in C13. Then a quick meal in a pub before returning to our hotel.

We were greeted with the news that we had been selected as Guests of the Day, which meant a room upgrade and breakfast included for free. This sounds like good news, but tune in tomorrow for a short tale of woe ....