This week, Year 4 were lucky enough to be able to visit a real Roman temple, which is fortunately just down the road!
We visited London Mithraeum, which was discovered during the rebuilding of the city post WW2. A Mithraeum is a special temple dedicated to the Roman god Mithras. Followers of Mithras were very secretive, which explains the temple’s small size. A reconstruction helps us imagine how it would’ve been then: dark and smokey inside, full of male followers who chanted in Latin and dined together. We were told by our guide that only men were allowed inside the temple and that they would have to take part in a special initiation ceremony to prove themselves worthy of joining.
The children really enjoyed experiencing the temple as it would have been and really felt the gravity of being inside a structure that is nearly 2,000 years old. We also saw lots of other artefacts that were found during the excavation, including cooking pots, weapons, and even shoes!
Michael Faraday 