The Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, also known as Schola Graeca, is a historic church located in the Rione Ripa of Rome and is served by the Greek-Melkite Catholic community. Originally built in the 6th century on the ruins of the Templum Herculis Pompeiani and the Statio Annonae in the Forum Boario, it acquired the name “Cosmedin” (from the Greek kosmidion, meaning “beautiful”) in the 7th century. Greek monks fleeing iconoclasm decorated the church around 782 under Pope Adrian I, and over the centuries, it has undergone several restorations, including a significant one in 1118–1124 and a Baroque renovation in 1718 by Giuseppe Sardi, later partly reversed in the 1894–1899 restoration.
The basilica is renowned for its ancient medieval choir closure, delicate Cosmatesque pavement, and its portico featuring the famous Mouth of Truth. Its interior, with a single nave divided by pilasters and ancient columns (some originally from the Statio Annonae), houses paintings from the 8th to 12th centuries, a 13th-century Schola Cantorum, and a red granite altar from 1123. The sacristy preserves a precious 8th-century mosaic fragment from the ancient Basilica of San Pietro. Notably, the basilica also houses the relics of Saint Valentine, adding to its spiritual and historical significance.
- Address
Piazza della Bocca della Verità, 18, Rome, Italy - Web
None - Visiting Hours
Every day from 9:30 to 18:00 - What to see
Bocca della Verità, relics of St Valentine
