San Lorenzo in Fonte

The church owes its name to the legend that the saint was held prisoner before his martyrdom in the baths where he is said to have baptised his jailer, the centurion Hippolytus, with water from an ancient spring. The building was rebuilt starting in 1543 and renovated after 1628 by architect Domenico Castelli. In the 19th century, the façade was renovated, where the 16th-century portal is preserved, surmounted by a dedicatory inscription to Saints Lawrence and Hippolytus. The interior has a single nave with a barrel vault. On the high altar is a painting by Andrea Camassei (1602-1649) depicting the Saint while baptising Ippolito and his family. A staircase leads to the basement where the prison of St Lawrence is believed to have been: the cistern, which gave its name to the church, can be dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

Roman Buildings
The church dates back to the 17th century, but it stands on the structures of an earlier early medieval church (8th-9th century AD), which in turn was built on some rooms of a building from the 3rd century AD, the remains of which are now visible in the church basement. Also belonging to this building is a well, now located under the apse, which belonged to a Roman house, and which in the Middle Ages was interpreted as the prison of St. Lawrence. The cistern, which gave its name to the church, has a circular shape and is made of opus reticulatum datable between the 1st and 2nd century AD, with a vaulted roof, now cut off for the works of the metro line B.