Home > Monuments

Santa Maria in Cosmedin

Many churches in Rome sit on or in the remains of pagan cultic places. Santa Maria in Cosmedin sits on the high altar of Hercules, part of whose structure has been investigated through excavations under the church. An altar to Hercules shows a Greek connection in the zone since very early times, so it's not all that strange to find that the church is maintained by a Greek order today.

Originally built in the sixth century, the church was known as Santa Maria in Schola Graeca. Byzantine monks escaping the iconoclastic persecutions in Greece arrived here around 782 CE bringing with them artistic skills that gave the church splendid decorations earning it the name "kosmidion", and hence its present name. The church was damaged during the Sack of Rome by the Normans in 1084, but was rebuilt and a marvelous belltower was added, one of the most complex and best preserved examples of the type of structure.

The facade of the church is medaieval, after having worn rococco "improvements" until the last century when it was restored to its former severity.

At the left end of the portico that fronts the church is a strange artifact from a bygone era known today as the Bocca della Verità. This is a circular slab of marble that has a face engraved on it with slits for eyes and a slot for its mouth. A legend developed that if a perjuror put his hand in the mouth and told a lie, the mouth would bite off the fingers of the perjuror's hand! This explains the name, the "Mouth of Truth". However, just what the original purpose of the artifact was is still in debate. It's now commonly thought to have been a drain cover, either in medaieval times or in antiquity, but the water flow into the holes would be rather difficult and besides, who would make a drainage cover out of good marble? A more likely explanation is that the face was used as part of a wall fountain in some rich villa on the Aventine Hill.

The interior of the church features a number of medaieval interests including a lovely marble choir, an intricate Cosmatesque pavement, a bishop's throne, and a gothic canopy over the main altar (signed by Deodato di Cosma, the Younger). The three naves of the church are separated by pilasters and ancient Roman columns some of whose capitals are original, some made in the middle ages when the church was built.

Ian Hutchesson