What lies beyond the Mouth of Truth?
Everybody who visits Rome knows about the Bocca della Verità—and many of them line up for up to an hour (or more!) to stick their hand in its mouth and snap an iconic photo.
But what most visitors fail to do is to take the time to visit the incredible church that lies just beyond this monument of dubious importance, Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Today, Tiffany tells you all about it, and what to look for when you are there.
You can listen to the episode right here, or find the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and elsewhere.
Related Episodes:
Bittersweet Moment #216: The Route of the Seven Churches
Bittersweet Moment #148: Free Art in Rome’s Churches: Cloisters
Bittersweet Moment #144: Free Art in Rome’s Churches: Mosaics
Bittersweet Moment #142: Free Art in Rome’s Churches: Statues
Bittersweet Moment #139: Free Art in Rome’s Churches: Paintings
Five key takeaways from the episode:
- The Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verità) in Rome is a popular tourist attraction, but the speaker considers it overrated and suggests visitors’ time could be better spent elsewhere.
- The Mouth of Truth is actually an ancient drain cover, not a lie detector as legend claims, and is located on the wall of Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church’s portico.
- The speaker encourages visitors to go inside Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church, which is often overlooked but is a well-preserved example of a medieval church with many interesting features.
- Inside the church, visitors can see Cosmati floors, 12th-century frescoes, and the ancient Ara Maxima (Great Altar) dedicated to Hercules, which dates back to Rome’s earliest days.
- The church’s gift shop contains a fragment of a mosaic from the original St. Peter’s Basilica, offering visitors a glimpse of the ancient basilica’s lost splendor.
Full Episode Transcript:
Katy
Hello, I’m Katy Sewall and this is A Bittersweet Moment with Tiffany Parks.
Tiffany
Hello and welcome to The Bittersweet Life. I’m Tiffany Parks and this is your midweek Bittersweet Moment. One of the most popular sites in Rome is the Bocca della Verità, or the Mouth of Truth. You’ve probably seen pictures of it, or maybe even seen it immortalized in the classic 1950s film Roman Holiday, when Gregory Peck demonstrates to Audrey Hepburn how the vicious lie detector works. Because according to tradition, the enormous ancient round stone carved with eyes, a nose and a gaping mouth could detect a liar.
So legend has it that if you put your hand inside its mouth and tell it a lie, the Mouth of Truth will bite your hand off. In reality, the round slab was something much humbler. It was actually a drain cover, albeit a very large and ornate one. So the Mouth of Truth hangs on the wall of the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church, near the Circus Maximus. There is always a long line of people waiting to take that iconic shot with their hand in the gaping mouth of this ancient drain cover. It now even costs a few euros to take that photo. And in these days of Instagram and TikTok, when getting that perfectly posed must-have shot seems more important sometimes even than the experience itself, the line now takes well over an hour.
So you’re in Rome. Go line up for the Mouth of Truth. Or don’t. That’s entirely up to you. I personally don’t consider it one of Rome’s most unmissable sites. Between you and me, I think it’s a bit overrated and your time could better be used elsewhere. But if you do decide to go, whether you’re lining up for the photo or you’re just glancing through the grating to see the artifact inside, which you can do for free, I encourage you to do what 99% of people who visit the Mouth of Tru don’t do, and that is to go inside the church. You’d think that was obvious, but believe it or not, so many people go there, take the time to find the place, take the time to wait in line, get their photo and just head out of there. But it is really, really a shame, because Santa Maria in Cosmedin is a wonderful example of a medieval church that has thankfully suffered not an excessive amount of restoration and changes over the 900 years of its existence. And it’s definitely worth a visit, especially because it really is a shame that it gets overlooked, if not downright ignored, thanks to its much more famous tenant in the portico.
Like many of Rome’s late medieval churches, Santa Maria in Cosmedin was built on the site of older churches from the 5th and 8th centuries respectively. And traces of those older churches can be found on the walls and in the columns of the 12th century church. Points of note include the original Cosmati floors, the Pascal candlestick, also by the Cosmati family, and the Gothic ciborium or altar canopy carved in 1249. Remains of 12th century frescoes along the upper walls of the naves can also be seen, although sadly, they were almost entirely plastered over in the 17th century. But one of the most fascinating points of interest in the church is the Ara Maxima, or the Great Altar. This is an ancient altar to Hercules that supposedly originated in the archaic period and was used by Romulus, Rome’s first king, as one of the four corners of the very first delineation of the city, which was called Roma Quadrata, or Square Rome, when the territory of the city of Rome was entirely encompassed on the Palatine Hill at the very, very beginnings of what would eventually become Rome. This altar was rebuilt in the 2nd century BC so it’s still extremely, extremely old. And what’s left of it can be seen by paying a few euros to the church custodian and descending the rickety iron staircase that you can find along the left nave. It is so fascinating and to me worth a hundred times more than the Mouth of Truth. And there’s never any line to go there.
One last curiosity before you exit. Stop into the small gift shop which is located directly to the left of the entrance. On the far wall, you’ll notice a glittering medieval mosaic on the wall that seems entirely out of place among the rows and rows of postcards and guidebooks and magnets. This is just a fragment of what was once a dazzling series of mosaics that adorned the original St. Peter’s Basilica. Most of these mosaics were destroyed, unfortunately, when the 3rd-century basilica was pulled down to make room for the new baroque church. But a few of them, like this one, were preserved and placed in various churches and museums around the city. So it’s a real hidden gem and worth a trip into the gift shop to see it. I hope you enjoyed this Bittersweet Moment and I hope that if you are in Rome this year, you have a chance to visit this truly beautiful and fascinating church. Thanks so much for listening. Bye.
Katy
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