Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin

This elegant medieval church beside the Tiber is best known for the Bocca della Verità, an ancient marble mask set into its portico wall that legend says will bite the hand of a liar. Beyond the crowds gathered for a photograph lies a beautifully preserved interior with a Cosmatesque marble floor, a raised schola cantorum for singers, and a slender Romanesque bell tower outside. Built in the sixth century and enlarged later, it served Rome's Greek-speaking community.