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.