“The
subterranean temple of Mithra in village of Verjuy (Verjouy
or Varju’i), Maragheh is in ruins, as the result of
illegal building projects within the protected zone of the
ancient temple, as well as penetration of the surface
waters into the cavern and traffic passing over the
temple”, Neser Zavari the head of Maragheh ICTO told
reporters.
“Until
now too little has been done to protect this important
site. If we want to save this monument from destruction we
must change the route of the road passing over the temple,
and taking necessary measures to prevent further surface
water finding its way inside the caver”, He added.
Verjuy
Mithraeum carved out of the living rock made of Schist,
dates back to the Arsacid Dynasty with a 5.4-meter wide
entrance.
“This
splendid man-made caved-temple, due to its volume of work
and abstruseness can be considered as one of the most
exceptional and precious temples of the ancient world”,
he concluded.
Followers
of Mithraism built this temple during the Arsacid dynasty
by cutting a huge schist stone on the ground into an
entrance 5.40 meters wide. A steep embankment reaches an
underground corridor with a crescent-shaped ceiling at the
entrance of the cave. The height of the corridor's ceiling
is 2.5 meters from the ground and the corridor is 17.60
meters long. The central corridor has many pit-like
entrances that lead to underground rooms with dome-like
ceilings. Holes were made in many of these ceilings in the
Islamic period to allow light to enter the temple.
