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Locus

Capua

Capua is currently a city and comune in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.

Mithraic monuments of Capua

 

Mitreo di Santa Maria Capua Vetere

One of Roman Italy’s most important Mithraic sanctuaries, the Mithraeum at S. Maria Capua Vetere preserves a remarkable painted cycle of initiation scenes, offering rare visual evidence for the ritual life of Roman Mithaism.

CIMRM 180

 

Tauroctony from Santa Maria Capua Vetere

The main fresco of the Mithraeum of Santa Maria Capua Vetere portrays Mithras slaughtering a white bull.

CIMRM 181

 

Eros and Psyche

The Mithraeum of Santa Maria Capua Vetere includes a marble relief depicting a child Eros guiding Psyche through the dark.

CIMRM 186

 

Stars of the Mitreo de Santa Maria Capua Vetere

The vault of the Mithraeum in S. Capua Vetere is decorated with stars that have holes in their centers, which once held colorful glass decorations.

 

Fresco de Luna en el Mitreo de Santa Maria Capua Vetere

Luna riding a biga in the Mithraeum of Santa Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 184

 

Fresco scene from Mitreo of Santa Maria Capua Vetere

Fresco showing a scene of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras in the Mithraeum of Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 188

 

Cautes fresco from Mitreo di Santa Maria Capua Vetere

In the Mithraeum of S. Capua Veteres, Cautes stands between two laurel trees.

CIMRM 182

 

A man is initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras

This is the first of several fresco scenes depicting the initiation of a new member in a mithraic community, in Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 187

 

Kneeling man from Santa Maria Capua Vetere

This scene from the frescoes of the Mitreo di Santa Maria Capua Vetere shows a kneeling, naked man surrounded by two other figures.

CIMRM 191

 

Aion fresco of Caputa Vetere

Minto has claimed that the time god Aion was painted on the corner of the north wall of the Mitreo de Santa Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 185

 

Prostrate figure fresco from Capua Vetere

Representation of a person lying prostrate on the ground between two other walking figures on the Mitreo of Santa Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 193

 

Initiation scene from Capua Vetere

Fresco depicting an initiation scene from the Mithraeum of Capua Vetere.

CIMRM 194

References

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