Iseum Savariense

The Iseum Savariense is the excavated remains of a Roman-era temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, built outside the walls of Savaria, the colony founded by the emperor Claudius around AD 50 on the site of modern Szombathely. Ranked among the largest sanctuaries ever raised to Isis in the Roman world, after only those in Rome and Alexandria, the temple reflects how far the cult had spread following Rome's annexation of Hellenistic Egypt. Excavations begun in the 1950s uncovered carved reliefs and fragments of cult statuary, including depictions of Serapis and of Amor and Psyche, along with enough of the original facade to allow archaeologists to reconstruct its appearance. The sanctuary remained active until the fourth century AD, when imperial bans on pagan worship under Theodosius brought its use to an end. The surrounding ruin garden also preserves a shrine to Mercury, an eight-sided Roman bath, and original paving stones from the Amber Road trade route.