The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin (or Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin or de Schola Graeca in Italian) is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa, and is famous as the site of the Bocca della Verità (or Mouth of Truth).
Rome (Roma in Italian) is the capital city and a special comune of Italy (named Comune di Roma Capitale). Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 496.1 square miles (1,285 square kilometers), it is also the country's most populated comune. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits, and the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.
Rome's history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The city's early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans, and Sabines. Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and is regarded by some as the first ever metropolis. It was first called The Eternal City (Urbs Aeterna in Latin or La Città Eterna in Italian) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the "Caput Mundi" (Capital of the World). After the fall of the Western Empire, which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, Rome slowly fell under the political control of the Papacy, and in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. Beginning with the Renaissance, almost all the popes since Nicholas V (1447–1455) pursued over four hundred years a coherent architectural and urban program aimed at making the city the artistic and cultural center of the world. In this way, Rome became first one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the center of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which, in 1946, became the Italian Republic.
The historic center of Rome is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Information from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Cosmedin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome 