An Analysis on Mithraic Temple Landscape Structure

Architecture and art is the best form of emergence of human attitude towards religious rituals and importance such rituals hold. In ancient Persia one of the most significant ritualistic foundations to form the space has been Mithraic beliefs. The importance of architectural design in Mithraic temples is presented in various periods of art and architecture in Iran and other parts of the globe based on the complexity of Mithraic mysteries. The art affected by Mithraism has been transformed in the passage of time into distinct meaning. Although, astrology and studying the heavenly bodies has been a very major issue among the followers, but in general studies on the Mithraic temples always taken place with a focus on interior architectural design of the Mithraeum, and unfortunately the external environment of the temple and natural elements are missing in previous studies. Purpose of presents study is to survey and evaluate the Mithraic temple appearance based on the available documents and buildings identified up to the present day. According to the explanatory-descriptive survey research methods and studying the ritualistic evidences and available papers and articles, and eventually, evaluating the Mithraic temple appearance we got to the conclusion that despite the fundamental structural changes in Mithraic temples from cave temples into underground Mithraeums in various parts of the world and in long periods of time, the general axis of design in Mithraic temples is the nocturnal landscape.