This content was automatically translated. View the original text.
The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian in San Cosimato: the Benedictine Sanctuary Perched Above the Aniene
The Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian forms part of the monastic complex of San Cosimato, on a crag overlooking the River Aniene, in the territory of Vicovaro. The name refers to the two physician saints to whom the first monastery was dedicated, erected in the 6th century on the remains of a Roman villa. Here, according to tradition, St Benedict of Nursia lived around the year 503 AD, before going to Subiaco. In the refectory carved from the rock, the monks attempted to poison him, not being able to support the strictness of his rule: but the chalice miraculously shattered.
From the Cluniac Abbey to the Franciscans
Devastated by Goths and Lombards, then destroyed by the Saracens in the 9th century, the monastery rose again in the 10th century as a Cluniac abbey. It then passed to the Cistercians, then to the Ambrosians, and finally to the Reformed Franciscans in 1668. The present church and convent date from the rebuilding in the early 18th century.
The Interior and the Chapels
The façade features a three-bay portico with frescoes by Antonio Rosati (1670) depicting the battle against the Saracens. Inside are five chapels on the left side and one on the right. The Cappella Orsini, erected in 1628 by Mario Orsini, Bishop of Tivoli, contains a large wooden crucifix. Beneath the church, the rock-cut hermitages and the conduits of the Roman aqueducts Aqua Marcia and Aqua Claudia complete a site of rare evocative power.
