Virginia Water Roman Temple

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.

 

 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. 

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.

[ http://www.railalbum.co.uk/nonrail/virginia-water-roman-ruins-1.htm]