Chiesa dei Santi Cosma e Damiano

Beside the Romanesque bulk of Sant'Abbondio, the small church of Saints Cosmas and Damian preserves an older layer of Como's Christian past. Built in the eleventh century, probably over the remains of a paleo-Christian basilica whose columns still survive in its walls, it now lives a second life as a deconsecrated exhibition space.

Why it matters

The church marks the early heart of Christianity on the via Regina, the Roman road outside Como's walls that served as a burial route. Dedicated to Cosmas and Damian, the fourth-century martyr brothers, it stood within the same complex as the Basilica Apostolorum, the direct predecessor of Sant'Abbondio. Its eleventh-century fabric preserves an early layer of the complex beside the rebuilt basilica.

What to notice

Pillars from the earlier paleo-Christian basilica remain embedded in one of the church's walls, visible evidence of the earlier structure.

The intact entrance portal is the building's principal architectural accent. Following its deconsecration, the church has been used as an exhibition space; its open interior and surviving decorative fragments retain traces of its religious use.

The church stands within the architectural complex of Sant'Abbondio. Its dedication recalls the early-medieval cult of the twin physician martyrs, honoured along Lombard roads.

Context and history

The building is dated to the eleventh century and rose on the via Regina, where Roman necropolises and early Christian cemeteries had long made the roadside a place of burial and memory. Tradition and on-site evidence connect it with a paleo-Christian basilica, whose structural pillars remain incorporated in the medieval walls.

After deconsecration, the church acquired a cultural role as an exhibition space within the Sant'Abbondio complex.

The church combines eleventh-century fabric with surviving evidence of Como's earlier Christian architecture.