Monumentum
Mitreo delle Sette Sfere
The Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres is of great importance for the understanding of the cult, because of its black-and-white mosaics depicting the planets, the zodiac and related elements.
PublishedThe New Mithraeum
27 Apr 2010
Updated on 20 Jan 2022
General view of the Mitraeum of the Seven Spheres
The New Mithraeum / Andreu Abuín (CC BY-SA)
Corridor of the Mitraeum of the Seven Sphere
The New Mithraeum / Andreu Abuín (CC BY-SA)
Detail of the corridor, Mitraeum of the Seven Spheres
The New Mithraeum / Andreu Abuín (CC BY-SA)
Tauroctonia del Mitreo delle Sette Sfere, Ostia
Musei Vaticani
Tauroctonia del Mitreo delle Sette Sfere, Ostia
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Vermaseren
Mithraeum, discovered by Lanciani in 1885-1886 (Reg. II, Is. VII, 6). Second half of the second cent. A.D.The Mithraeum was built in a rectangular room on the Western side of the Domus of Apuleius with which it communicates through a corridor. It is, however, uncertain whether already in antiquity the house communicated with the sanctuary. Entering the sanctuary (L. 11.20 Br. 4.95), one finds the usual division of central aisle (Br. 1.70), leading to the dais, and two sloping side-benches (Br. 1.50-1.65 H. 0.75-0.