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Savaria Mithraeum



 
 
Savaria Mithraeum was the shrine of Mithras in the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 town of Savaria (now Szombarhely, Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
) which was discovered in 2008.

History
The cult of Mithras was popular in the Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
 of Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. Archeological evidences proved its presence in Aquincum
Aquincum

The ancient city of Aquincum was situated on the North-Eastern borders of the Pannonia province within the Roman Empire. The ruins of the city can be found today in Budapest, capital city of Hungary....
, Fertorákos
Fertorákos

Fertor?kos is a village in the county of Gyor-Moson-Sopron in Hungary. In 2001 it had a population of 2,182.It is located at , about from Sopron, near Lake Ferto and the Austrian border....
 and Sárkeszi
Sárkeszi

S?rkeszi is a village in Fej?r county, Hungary.External links ...
 but its popularity in Savaria, the capital of Pannonia Prima
Pannonia Prima

Pannonia Prima was an ancient Ancient Rome province. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Previously, it was a part of the province of Pannonia, which was gradually divided into four administrative units: Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Secunda, Pannonia Valeria, and Savia....
 was only proved in 2008 when a mithraeum
Mithraeum

Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism. They were often constructed underground or in a cave to resemble the cave where Mithras is said to have slain the sacred bull ....
 was unearthed in the vicinity of the most important surviving Roman monument of the town, the shrine of Isis
ISIS

ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
.

The Savaria Mithraeum was used until the 4th century when it was burned down and collapsed.






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Encyclopedia


Savaria Mithraeum was the shrine of Mithras in the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 town of Savaria (now Szombarhely, Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
) which was discovered in 2008.

History


The cult of Mithras was popular in the Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
 of Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. Archeological evidences proved its presence in Aquincum
Aquincum

The ancient city of Aquincum was situated on the North-Eastern borders of the Pannonia province within the Roman Empire. The ruins of the city can be found today in Budapest, capital city of Hungary....
, Fertorákos
Fertorákos

Fertor?kos is a village in the county of Gyor-Moson-Sopron in Hungary. In 2001 it had a population of 2,182.It is located at , about from Sopron, near Lake Ferto and the Austrian border....
 and Sárkeszi
Sárkeszi

S?rkeszi is a village in Fej?r county, Hungary.External links ...
 but its popularity in Savaria, the capital of Pannonia Prima
Pannonia Prima

Pannonia Prima was an ancient Ancient Rome province. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Previously, it was a part of the province of Pannonia, which was gradually divided into four administrative units: Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Secunda, Pannonia Valeria, and Savia....
 was only proved in 2008 when a mithraeum
Mithraeum

Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism. They were often constructed underground or in a cave to resemble the cave where Mithras is said to have slain the sacred bull ....
 was unearthed in the vicinity of the most important surviving Roman monument of the town, the shrine of Isis
ISIS

ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
.

The Savaria Mithraeum was used until the 4th century when it was burned down and collapsed. The mithraeum was discovered during the building works of a new shopping center in 2008. The remains were excavated by local archeologists who claimed that the discovery is of European importance. The ruins will be preserved in the basement of the new plaza. Many other finds were unearthed in the area like an intact Roman cellar and a 3 m wide, stone waterdrain that was repaired in the 19th century.

Remains


Two stone altars were uncovered which were decorated with scenes from the life of Mithras in reliefs and had dedicative inscriptions. The inner room and the narthex of the shrine was decorated with wall paintings. The frescoes are being restored by experts from the collected fragments. Their design were geometric with some figurative scenes. The ceiling was coffered. The ancient painters used expensive pigments like Egyptian Blue
Egyptian Blue

Egyptian blue is chemically known as calcium copper silicate . It is a pigment used by Egyptians for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pigment....
 and vermilion
Vermilion

Vermilion, sometimes spelled vermillion, when found naturally occurring, is an opaque Orange ish red pigment, used since antiquity, originally derived from the powdered mineral cinnabar....
. There were stone benches along the walls in the inner room.