@antonius

Near the village of Septeuil, in the Yvelines department (Île-de-France), lie the very faint remains of a Mithraic sanctuary discovered in the 19th century. The site sits directly along the modern national road linking Mantes-la-Jolie to Houdan — an unexpected location for a mithraeum, usually associated with caves, secluded areas or buildings set apart from traffic. Today almost nothing is preserved: a slight depression in the ground, a few displaced stones, and a modern marker indicating the approximate position of the shrine. This near-complete disappearance gives the place a strangely elusive character, as if the sanctuary had slowly been absorbed by the contemporary landscape. The photographs show what can still be seen on site. Despite the minimal remains, the location retains a quiet atmosphere, suspended between the flow of present-day traffic and the memory of a mystery cult once practiced here.