Roma - Santa Maria in Cosmedin

A Roman Temple existed here near an ancient food wholesale-market. Over the the centuries this temple was converted into a small Christian church. When during the iconoclastic riots in Byzantium many Greeks fled to Rome, Pope Adrian I in 772 commisioned the building of the church. Greek monks decorated the church, known as "Santa Maria in Schola Graeca" at that time.

The crypt under the apse is dated to the early church from the 8th century. The six columns are reused Roman ones, the capitals are younger. The left wall is are made out of tuff blocks, that came from the Roman Temple, that existed here before. There are eight niches, where relics were kept.