The Jajce Mithraeum, or Jajački Mithraeum () is a

mithraeum A Mithraeum , sometimes spelled Mithreum and Mithraion (), is a Roman temple, temple erected in classical antiquity by the Mithraism, worshippers of Mithras. Most Mithraea can be dated between 100 BC and 300 AD, mostly in the Roman ...

, or temple of

Mithraism Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mit ...

. It was rediscovered in an archaeological dig in 1931 in

Jajce Jajce ( sr-Cyrl, Јајце) is a town and municipality in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wi ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

History

Mithra was worshipped throughout the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, from the late Republic to the later Imperial era. The cult of

spread from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

to other parts of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

throughout the Mediterranean basin, at first by military-political adventurers, travelers, slaves and merchants from the

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

. Later, Mithraism was spread by

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...

whose legions came into contact with the followers of the cult in the East. The temple dates back to the early 4th century, although it could be as ancient as the 2nd century with repairs undertaken during the early 4th century. This particular Mithraeum is one of the best-preserved sites in Europe. The Jajce site is a typical spelaea.

followers typically sought to set up their places of worship in caves. In the absence of such topographical features, they excavated the soil and built the small single-celled temple (''spelaea'') to reinforce the impression of a cave.

Discovery and protection

The remains of the Mithraeum in Jajce were discovered accidentally during excavation for the construction of a private house in 1931. The site was purchased by the Society for the Preservation of Antiquities in Jajce and soon after a protective stone and mortar structure was constructed under the supervision of engineer F. Steiner. This structure was repaired in 1952 and survived until 2012 despite significant damage suffered during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. A new facility replaced the previous one following the 2012 renovation, which cost approximately 260,000 KM (BAM) and was carried out under the MDG-F program "Promotion cultural understanding in Bosnia and Herzegovina" with the financial support of the

Kingdom of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

government. The temple is now protected by a modern glass-walled steel-and-girder cage that allows visitors to see inside without entering. Visitors can enter with advance notice by contacting the Ethnological Museum of Jajce. The Jajce Mithraeum is declared a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and, including the old Jajce

walled city The following cities have, or historically had, defensive walls. Africa Algeria * Algiers * Ghardaïa * Timimoun Egypt See List of Egypt castles, forts, fortifications and city walls. * Al-Fustat * Cairo * Damietta Ethiopia * Harar Libya *Apo ...

core, the

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

and other individual sites outside of the old city perimeter, as part of wider areal designated as ''The natural and architectural ensemble of Jajce'', proposed as a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

. ''The natural and architectural ensemble of Jajce'' is currently placed on the UNESCO Tentative list.

References

{{Commons category, Mithraeum in Jajce, position=right m m Mithraea 2nd-century religious buildings and structures 4th-century religious buildings and structures Mithraism in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Roman era

m Buildings and structures in Jajce

History

Discovery and protection

See also

References