A new temple of Mithras was discovered at Regensburg in 2023. The cramped site is located at Stahlzwingerweg 6 in the old town. Even more interestingly, it’s a wooden rather than a stone construction. Some of the finds are now on display in the Historischen Museum Regensburg. Regensburg was a legionary town, and other finds connected to the cult have been found there.
The find was made during routine archaeological investigations carried out ahead of a residential construction project by SDI GmbH & Co. KG. Dr Sabine Watzlawik of ArchäoTeam GmbH led the excavation. As expected in Regensburg’s densely layered old town, the team encountered traces of settlement dating back to prehistory, the Roman period, and the Middle Ages.
The story is here:
It was only after months of excavation—conducted in several phases between spring and autumn 2023 due to the site’s confined conditions—and a comprehensive evaluation by archaeologist Dr Stefan Reuter that the significance of the discoveries became clear. Together, the finds pointed to the former presence of a Mithraeum, a sanctuary used by followers of the Mithras cult.
Although the temple itself was built of wood and has largely perished, a combination of clues proved decisive. Among the discoveries were a votive stone with an illegible inscription, fragments of votive plaques typical of Mithraic shrines, cult-niche fittings, and numerous coins.
The coin evidence dates the sanctuary to between about 80 and 171 AD, during the period of the Roman cohort fort in Kumpfmühl and the associated Danube settlement, before the establishment of the legionary camp at Regensburg….
Additional finds strengthened the identification: fragments of ceramic vessels decorated with snake motifs, incense burners, and handled jugs. Such objects are closely associated with Mithraic ritual practices, which included communal ceremonial meals. Drinking vessels, experts note, were an integral part of these rites.
For those who speak German, the story is on a number of sites, including this. There are a couple of videos here and here. Text from the latter:
Archaeologists first stumbled upon the remains of the wooden building at a construction site in the west of Regensburg’s city center in 2023. They were only able to proceed slowly, section by section, because construction work continued simultaneously at the site, says excavation director Sabine Watzlawik.
Among the remains, archaeologists found primarily fragments of drinking vessels, wine containers, and plates. While this could have indicated the presence of an inn, says Dr Stefan Reuter, who subsequently analyzed the finds, the researchers ultimately came across a different clue: much of their discovery was strikingly similar to other temples from the same period – not dedicated to a Roman deity, but to the oriental god Mithras.
One clue: Like other Mithras temples, the wooden structure, approximately seven meters long, was elongated and partially built into the ground. The followers of the mystery cult, to which only men were admitted, likely had to descend into the sanctuary via a ramp.
While a kind of trench ran down the middle, there were raised platforms on the sides where followers could sit or lie. Mithras temples were modeled after caves, since a central motif of the mythology was Mithras’s killing of a bull in a cave, according to Reuter….
The temple was illuminated by candles and oil lamps, says Johannes Sebrich from the Regensburg Office for Cultural Heritage. …
What exactly ended up on the participants’ plates at these feasts could be revealed by further analysis of the remains found. The investigations of the food containers, for example, are still ongoing. “I don’t want to preempt anything, but it seems that clearly high-quality food was consumed,” says Stefan Reuter.
According to researchers, the Regensburg sanctuary dates from between 80 and 171 AD. This makes it the oldest Mithras temple discovered in Bavaria to date. …
Even though no inscription bearing the name of the god Mithras was found, and therefore absolute proof is lacking, the archaeologists involved are “very certain” that their interpretation is correct.
The artifacts from the temple will be displayed in the Regensburg Historical Museum, which is currently redesigning its Roman exhibition. The Mithras sanctuary will occupy a prominent place in the new section of the exhibition.
Many thanks to Csaba Szabo who drew my attention to this exciting discovery!