Mithraeum under the Basilica of S. Lorenzo

TNMM 438 ↔ CIMRM 421

In 1938 a Mithraeum was found 3.45 mtrs under the Basilica of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, in a cellar near the Sacrament's Chapel. In the 15th cent. this Basilica was incorporated in the Palazzo della Cancelleria.

Of the sanctuary, situated near the entrance of the Palazzo, to the right along the facade, only some remnants have been preserved: a fragment of a wall; traces of a white mosaic floor probably of the central aisle (Br. 1.50), laying between the two side-benches. On a fragment of a wall, traces of red painting decorated with small crescents and stars have been found.

The mithraeum was located under the basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, founded around 380 and destroyed in the 15th century when the palace was built.

In 1938, a mithraeum of modest size was unearthed in the Campus Martius area of Rome. The speleum was excavated to the right of the entrance to the Palazzo della Chancelleria, where it had been buried under the first basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, founded around 380 and destroyed in the 15th century when the palace was built. It was reburied after rapid excavations, but little is known about it, despite the rich epigraphic and iconographic material it yielded.

The speleum was elongated, with side benches separated by a central aisle covered in white mosaic. At least one of the walls was painted red and decorated with crescents and stars. The structure of the complex suggests that the mithraeum reused earlier buildings and adapted them for ritual purposes.