Opus quadratum altomedievale in S. Maria in Cosmedin a Roma

Abstract

The basilica of S. Maria in Cosmedin preserves walls made of large early medieval reused tuff blocks from the time of Pope Hadrian
I (772-795), among the most significant from a quantitative and qualitative point of view among the examples of this technique
in Rome. wese walls, accompanied, as often, by brick walls with peculiar characteristics, have been seen and documented several
times in the past, without however an in-depth systematic analysis of the nature, shape and dimensions of the elements. wey can
now be analyzed in the area behind the apses, partially free from the adjacent structures of the cardinal’s palace. we study highlights
these walls, their extension in the monument and their main characteristics, corroborating the hypothesis of the origin of the recovered
blocks from the large ancient monument present in situ, identified with the Ara Maxima Herculis, and outlining a technique
that already at that time had taken on the typical characteristics of the following century.

Keywords : Early Middle Age, Rome, construction methods, tufa blocks, S. Maria in Cosmedin.