Romuva or Romowe (known as Rickoyoto in writings of Simon Grunau) was a pagan worship place (a temple or a sacred area) in western part of Sambia, one of the regions of the pagan Prussia. In contemporary sources the temple was mentioned only once by Peter von Dusburg in 1326. According to his account, Kriwe, the chief priest or "pagan pope", lived at Romuva and ruled over the religion of all the Balts. According to Simon Grunau the temple was central to Prussian mythology. Even though there are considerable doubts whether such a place actually existed, the Lithuanian neo-pagan movement Romuva borrowed its name from the temple.

According to Peter von Dusburg, the name Romuva is derived from the word Rome. He further describes the Kriwe as a powerful priest who was held in high regard by the Prussians, Lithuanians, and Balts of Livonia. His messengers were recognized from a certain rod or other insignia. He guarded the sacred flame and could look into the destiny of the deceased followers. He received one third of any booty taken by pagan warriors. This early account was further enhanced by Simon Grunau in the 16th century. He described eternal sacred fire, an eternally green oak with idols representing pagan "trinity": Patrimpas (god of spring), Perkūnas (god of thunder) and Patulas (god of the underworld). The place was guarded by priests and vestales. Images appeared based on this description and became very popular with romantic historians. Grunau also changed the name for the place to Rickoyoto (from Prussian rikijs - ruler and -ote - place name derivator) and invented the term Kriwe of Kriwes (Lithuanian: krivių krivaitis, Latvian: krīvu krīvs).

A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the dwelling places of a god or gods. The word "temple" dates to about the 6th century BCE. Despite the specific set of meanings associated with the religion of the ancient Rome, the word has now become quite widely used to describe a house of worship for any number of religions and is even used for time periods prior to the Romans.

Göbekli Tepe, located in southern Turkey, is the oldest-known, existing temple in the world. It was built approximately 11,000 years ago.

The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in Mesopotamian religion. It spanned several civilizations; from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. The most common temple architecture of Mesopotamia is the structure of sun-baked bricks called Ziggurat, having the form of a terraced step pyramid with flat upper terrace where shrine or temple stood