Roman Temple Under London: Restored Mithraeum Opens

A reconstructed Roman temple has been opened deep under the city of London, at the Bloomberg European headquarters site.

The ruins of the London Mithraeum, a temple dedicated to the Roman god Mithras, was discovered on the WWII bomb site in 1954. It is considered to be one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century in Britain, according to Archaeology at Bloomberg, a guide documenting the site's history.

The ancient ruin, which was dismantled and moved as post-war rebuilding on the site began, has been restored to its original site 23 feet below the ground, The Daily Mail reported.

Recounting scenes from the site, the British newspaper noted that the temple was darkly lit and offered an authentic experience to the visitor through a unique blend of sound, lights and misty haze.

"London is a Roman city, yet there are few traces of its distant past that people can experience first-hand," said Sophie Jackson, the project's lead archaeological consultant, according to the Mail & Guardian.

"This really was one of the most important discoveries in London, if not in Britain, in the 20th century."

The free museum is the brainchild of a U.S. experience design studio Local Projects, which previously worked on the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York, architectural magazine Dezeen noted.

"This is very self-consciously meant to be a beautiful and minimalist experience," Local Projects founder Jake Barton told the magazine.

"Being able to stand inside of that Mithraeum, with the walls being created around you, listening to the ritual, gets people activated and engaged because they're somehow projecting themselves into the space and projecting themselves into that time."

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