San Crisogono is one of the oldest churches in Rome (the Titulus Chrysogoni being included in the list of tituli as early as 499). The first church was built in the 4th century, under Pope Sylvester I (314-335), but was rebuilt first in the 12th century and then again in 1626 following the will of Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese.
The remains of the first church, discovered during archaeological investigations in 1907 and subsequent excavations, are visible beneath the present church and shown in these pictures. For centuries, the Basilica (in fact it has the dignity of Basilica minore) was the national church of the Sardinians and Corsicans living in Rome.
