London Mithraeum
A Roman mystery cult beneath a 21st-century HQ. The Temple of Mithras, discovered in 1954 and painstakingly returned to its original riverside level, is staged with sound, shadow and Latin chant. Above it, cases of finds—boots, curse tablets, brooches—rebuild a day in Londinium, while the Bloomberg SPACE adds rotating contemporary art. Book a free timed slot; descend past the artefacts; let your eyes adapt. It’s short, sharp and unforgettable.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
Temple Chamber
Sanctuary to MithrasColumns, apse and benches appear by degrees; the god’s cult returns as your pupils widen.
📍 Lower level, original site
Finds Wall
Voices of a frontier cityFrom hairpins to boots: every object is a witness statement from Roman London.
📍 Middle level, artefact displays
Bloomberg SPACE
Now meets thenContemporary commissions riff on the archaeology below.
📍 Street level
Walbrook Story
A lost river, a saved siteThe vanished Walbrook stream both fed the cult site and preserved what you see today.
📍 Interpretation panels
Inspire your Friends
- The temple was first found in 1954, briefly rebuilt at street level, then—during Bloomberg’s redevelopment—carefully returned to its original underground position where you see it today.
- Excavations here produced Britain’s largest haul of Roman writing tablets—among them the earliest known reference to ‘London’ and some of the earliest handwritten documents found in the city.
- Those ‘notepads’ were waxed wooden tablets reused again and again; stylus scratches sometimes survive even when the wax is long gone.
- Entry is free—but it’s timed. Book ahead and you’re more likely to catch the full sound-and-light sequence with space to breathe.
- The temple stood beside the lost Walbrook stream—a waterlogged ribbon through the Roman city that helped seal and preserve leather, wood and bone for 1,700 years.
