History
Pope John VII used this church in the early 8th century as see of the bishop of Rome. It is possible that the Titulus Cyriaci, recorded in the acts of the 499 synod, is to be identified with this church.
The church was partially destroyed in 847, when an earthquake caused parts of the imperial palaces to collapse and cover the church. For this reason, a new church called Santa Maria Nova (New St. Mary, now Santa Francesca Romana) was erected nearby by Pope Leo IV, on a portion of the ruined temple of Temple of Venus and Roma, where once stood a chapel commemorating the fall of Simon Magus. Santa Maria Antiqua suffered further damages during the Norman Sack of Rome (1084).
The church of Santa Maria Liberator was built in 1617 on its ruins, but then demolished in 1900 to bring the remains of the old church to light.
Read more about this topic: Santa Maria Antiqua
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)