060608

The small building, which overlooks the Tiber, has a red-brick façade and is characterised by a small rectangular terrace. The entrance portal is accessed by a double flight of symmetrical stairs.

The building stands on a Roman sepulchre that already existed around the 8th century, when the remains of the two martyrs Cyrus and John were brought to Rome via the Tiber from Alexandria in Egypt. Over time, the building was enlarged and embellished several times, as evidenced by the remains of medieval frescoes inside and the architectural layout, both from the 13th-14th centuries.

From the sacristy, one descends into the crypt, possibly the original 8th-century church, with an 11th-century lintel commemorating the burial of the two martyrs. At an even lower level is the hypogeum consisting of the Roman sepulchre with remains of frescoes.