Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

You may wish to see a page on ancient Cori first.

Collegiata di S. Maria della Pietà and its bell tower

The first street to our left leads up to the collegiate church of S. Maria, opposite which are some fragments, and an altar dedicated to Fortune by the Calvian family. In the church, over the third altar to the right, is a good painting of a Pieta; and to the left, near the great altar, is a candelabrum of the XIII. century. Ascending from the church we meet at a short distance the house of Antonio Prosperi, in the courtyard of which is the fragment of an inscription, relating to one L. Publius and over the inner door of the court are two small cinerary urns.
Rev. Jeremiah Donovan - Rome Ancient and Modern - 1844
Notwithstanding its antiquity Cori was never the see of a diocese, perhaps because of its proximity to Velletri, a much larger town. A collegiate church is run by a college of canons and in its governance and religious observance is similar in some respects to a cathedral, thus S. Maria della Pietà, very near Porta Ninfina in the lower part of Cori, was the most important church of the town.

Cori Monte: (left/centre) steep streets leading to Cori Monte; (right-above) coat of arms of Pope Gregory XIV (very rare as he was pope for just ten months); (right-below) heraldic symbol of a local noble family

We must leave our carriage at the inn, for the streets, chiefly staircases, are too steep for anything but mules and foot passengers. It is best to get the honest old landlord, to provide a guide, which is desirable, if time be of importance, and delivers one from the swarm of would-be cicerones who pounce upon the stranger like so many harpies.
Augustus J. C. Hare - Days near Rome - 1873
After the time of Emperor Claudius history is silent until the year 1212, when Innocent III. constituted Pietro Annibaldi master of Cora, during the will and pleasure of the Pope. We have no record of its existence from the XIII. to the XV. century, when it is mentioned as feudal to the Senate and people of Rome: and it has continued such to the present day. Donovan
Since the Middle Ages it has been a fief of the Roman Senate and people - a crown land, or domain of the city of Rome - a truly valuable possession.
Ferdinand Gregorovius - From the Volscian Mountains - 1860 - Translation by Dorothea Roberts.
In the XVth century, when the authority of the popes was restored in the region, Cori was placed under the direct rule of the City of Rome, the municipal body residing in Campidoglio, to which the popes assigned some limited power in the maintenance of the city. A magistrate appointed by this body was in charge of the administration of Cori; thus the town retains only very few direct references to the popes.

Santa Oliva, its oldest part is that near the bell tower

Halfway up the hill is the beautiful old convent of Santa Oliva, whose shrine is in the crypt at Anagni. She was a holy maiden of Cori, to whom the Virgin appeared in 1521. Hare
The Middle Ages are not very well represented at Cora. The Cathedral of St. Peter, built out of the ruins of the Temple of Hercules, does not present much of interest, but Santa Oliva, on the contrary, is well worthy of note on account of its architecture. However, all these ruins, what are they, compared to the view over the Maritima which we may enjoy from every nook of Cora? Gregorovius.
From the church of S. Pietro we descend towards that of S. Oliva; the street by which we descend presents to the left polygonal walls of the third epoch, which had been part of the enclosure of the citadel and now sustain the street. (..) Cori a monte terminates at the church, from which we now descend to Cori a Valle. Donovan

Santa Oliva: (left) XIIth century section of the bell tower; (right) coat of arms of Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville above the entrance to the cloister of the convent

S. Oliva has a very uncommon design as it is a combination of two churches; it was enlarged in the XVth century by adding a second church (Cappella del Crocifisso) which became the principal one. The complex stands on an ancient terrace built to support a temple. The enlargement of the church and the construction of an adjoining Augustinian convent were promoted by Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville; he was a supporter of that order and he built S. Agostino, one of the first Renaissance churches in Rome. In addition to being titular cardinal of Ostia he held the same position at nearby Velletri.

S. Oliva: interior of the old part of the church

The church stands on the site of some ancient edifice, the base of a column of which we observe in the wall to the left as we enter. Donovan
The aisle of the church, a labyrinth of columns of different sizes and designs, is shown as the Temple of Jupiter. Hare
The interior has been deprived of all relatively modern additions in order to give more evidence to its ancient columns and it is not used for ordinary ceremonies.

S. Oliva: (left) altar of the old part; (right) altar of Cappella del Crocifisso

In the apse is the Coronation of the Virgin; the donor kneels beneath. Hare
The ancient columns and pilasters of the old part are made of different stones (white marble, pavonazzetto, travertine). Cappella del Crocifisso is made of one long hall with an apse, the frescoes of which have been poorly restored.

S. Oliva: ceiling of Cappella del Crocifisso

The body of the church has a ceiling whose intention is the same as that of the Sistine, representing scenes of Old and New Testament story. Hare
The central strip shows scenes from the Book of Genesis, which very much recall those of the Sistine chapel. The other two strips depict scenes of the Old Testament and of the Life of Jesus.

S. Oliva: frescoes of Cappella del Crocifisso: scenes from the life of Jesus

Cappella del Crocifisso was built in 1467-1480 and its frescoes are dated 1534. In addition to references to Michelangelo some of them call to mind works by other Renaissance painters, e.g. Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Leonardo. The extremely rich decoration of the chapel testifies to the importance of pictures for the Church of Rome as a means for the illiterate to read by seeing on the walls what they cannot read in books.

Augustinian convent adjoining S. Oliva: cloister

The cloister of S. Oliva, with a double row of arches, is most picturesque, and it contains an old well. Hare
In 2024 a museum of the antiquities of Cori was inaugurated in the premises of the convent, and for the occasion the Renaissance building was thoroughly restored. The cloister was designed in ca 1480 by Antonio, a master stonecutter from Como, the town of origin of sculptors and architects who worked in many parts of Italy. An Antonio da Como is recorded among the architects/sculptors of the Cathedral of Cefalù in Sicily and a Pietro da Como worked at Sulmona.

Lotus leaf capitals of the loggia; another capital is shown in the image used as background for this page

The capitals were designed after those which were found at Villa Adriana. They combine Egyptian and Greek elements and they can be seen also in some early XVIth century churches of Rome, e.g. S. Maria in Domnica.
The inclusion of human figures in the decoration of capitals was typical of many medieval cloisters (see those at S. Sofia in Benevento and at Monreale in Sicily). Antonio da Como kept with this tradition but his small portraits of saints, bishops and evils do not have the bizarre aspect of their medieval models.

Cloister: fresco depicting St. Augustine defeating the Heretics (one of whom wears an Ottoman turban), between two rampant lions with a red heart, the symbol of Cori; it is a reference to St. Augustine's actions against the Donatists

Cor, cordis is the Latin word for heart. It does not have any historical or legendary connections with Cori which is named after Coras, its founder, but in the XVth century when Cori adopted a rampant lion as its coat of arms, a red heart was placed on the animal, perhaps to distinguish it from the rampant lions of other towns, e.g. Leonessa.

Augustinian convent: Capitular Hall: Crucifix between the Virgin Mary and St. Augustine

The Capitular Hall retains only the upper part of two of the frescoes which decorated it. In one of them St. Augustine is portrayed in the act of blessing the viewer with his right hand and of indicating Christ and Mary with the left one. He thus explained the sanctity of Mary:
But look here, my brothers and sisters, concentrate more, I beg you, on what follows, on what Christ the Lord said as he stretched out his hand over his disciples: This is my mother and these are my brothers; and whoever does the will of my Father who sent me, that person is a brother to me and a sister and a mother (Mt 12:49-50). Didn't the Virgin Mary do the will of the Father? I mean, she believed by faith, she conceived by faith, she was chosen to be the one from whom salvation in the very midst of the human race would be born for us, she was created by Christ before Christ was created in her. Yes, of course, holy Mary did the will of the Father. And therefore it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been the mother of Christ. It means more for her, an altogether greater blessing, to have been Christ's disciple than to have been Christ's mother. That is why Mary was blessed, because even before she gave him birth, she bore her teacher in her womb.
St. Augustine - Sermon 72

(left) Oratorio dell'Annunziata; (right) Museo della Città di Cori: photographic panel depicting the Last Judgement by Pietro Coleberti da Priverno and his assistants in the oratory

This small oratory outside Porta Ninfina retains a rich fresco decoration of the early XVth century, with subjects similar to those at Cappella del Crocifisso, but in a late Gothic style.

(left) S. Francesco; (right) 1676 wooden ceiling by Luigi Guarnieri

The Franciscans had their church and convent on a small hill outside Cori, in line with the approach of the order which recommended modest architecture and decoration; they however made an exception for the ceiling, an elaborate work by Luigi Guarnieri (see the ceiling of S. Maria in Trastevere and a page on the ceilings of some other Roman churches).

Palazzo Riozzi Fasanella, a rare example of XVIIth century architecture in Cori

Return to Ancient Cori.

With the description of Cori, Gregorovius ended his account of the Volsci Mountains; previous pages: Valmontone and Montefortino; Segni and Gavignano; Carpineto; Norma
Next page (in Giuseppe Vasi's Environs of Rome): Albano
Introductory page on Ferdinand Gregorovius
Other walks:
The Roman Campagna: Colonna and Zagarolo, Palestrina, Cave, Genazzano, Olevano, Paliano and Anagni
The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino, Frosinone, Alatri, Fiuggi (Anticoli di Campagna), Piglio and Acuto
On the Latin shores: Anzio and Nettuno and Torre Astura
Circe's Cape: Terracina and San Felice
The Orsini Castle in Bracciano
Subiaco, the oldest Benedictine monastery
Small towns near Subiaco: Cervara, Rocca Canterano, Trevi and Filettino.
An Excursion through Sabina and Umbria: Aspra, ancient Casperia and Todi