The government has announced that the Temple of Mithras in London is to receive a Grade II listing.

Located on Queen Victoria Street in the heart of the city, the third century AD Roman temple is the only known Mithraeum from Roman London and one of the most important in Britain.

Discovered and excavated in the 1950s as part of the redevelopment of the City of London after the German bombing raids of the Second World War, the temple was later reconstructed at his current site at Bucklersbury House in the 1960s.

The future display of the Temple of Mithras is currently under review and it may well be moved back to its original site in Walbrook.

Culture minister David Lammy said: "Listing is a tool for management of the historic environment not a tool for its absolute preservation and the proposal to relocate and reconstruct the temple in its original site can now be considered in that context."

Dedicated to the worship of the ancient god Mithras, the temple was constructed around AD 240-250 and fell out of use in the late fourth century. It was excavated by Museum of London director, WF Grimes, who discovered a number of white marble statues of various gods and other artefacts.