View of columns and lintel, taken from the
Ascot to Virginia Water road bridge looking west.
29th January 2008.
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This Roman temple is located in Windsor
Great Park near Virginia Water.
It was originally constructed around the year 0 AD at the city of Leptis
Magna, about 2 miles east of what is now Al Khums in Libya. The city was
located where the Wadi Lebda joins the Mediterranean
Sea 62 miles southeast of modern day Tripoli.
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A lower view of the remains.
29th January 2008.
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Leptis Magna, where the ruins came
from, is thought to have originally been a Phoenician city
originating in about the year 1100 BC. It was part of the Carthage
dominions until 146 BC and became part of the Roman Republic from around
200 BC.
The city has been known as Lectis Magna, Lepcis Magna, Labqi, Lpqy,
Labdah and Neapolis.
In Roman times the city was the third most important in Africa. One of
its citizens called Lucius Septimus Severus became Emperor.
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Virginia Water Lake can be seen in the distance of
this photograph.
29th January 2008.
A slightly different perspective from the
previous photograph.
29th January 2008.
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The ruins were given as a gift by the Bashaw
of Tripoli to the Prince Regent (later King George IV) in 1816. They are
said to have arrived in Britain and to have been stored at Fort
Belvedere, a royal residence.
The intention had been to put it on display as the portico to the
British Museum in London, but this did not happen. The architect
of Windsor Great Park, Sir
Jeffry Wyatville, saw the stones and thought they would make an
interesting feature in the garden. The remains were erected in the park
in 1826 in a way thought to be representative of a ruined Roman Temple.
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View from the Ascot to Virginia Water road bridge looking
north.
29th January 2008.
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