Church of San Cosimato

The Church of San Cosimato is a hidden corner in the heart of Trastevere (Rome), dedicated to a saint who does not exist: its name is in fact nothing other than the popular contraction and corruption of Saints Cosmas and Damian, to whom the church and monastery were dedicated today incorporated within the Nuovo Regina Margherita Hospital.

Also called "in golden mica" perhaps due to the presence of golden river sand on the slopes of the Janiculum, or "Little San Cosma" to distinguish it from the basilica in the Forum, the complex boasts a thousand-year past.

Its foundation in fact dates back to the 10th century even if the works for its construction ended in 1069, the year in which Pope Alexander II consecrated the church, as recorded by a plaque still preserved today.

In 1229 Pope Gregory IX assigned the monastery to the Camaldolese Benedictines who remained there until 1234, when the pontiff himself entrusted it to a group of "Poverelle" sent by Santa Chiara.

The entire complex was then radically renovated by Sixtus IV in 1475. The end of the monastery as a convent dates back to 1891, when the complex was expropriated by the Municipality of Rome and initially transformed into a hospice.

Map: Church of San Cosimato