Chiesa dei ss Cosma e Damiano di Isernia

The small church of Saints Cosma and Damiano is located outside the town of Isernia, on a small hill at the foot of which flows the Carpino river.
A festival dedicated to the martyred saints is held in the last week of September. The people of Isernia and neighbouring communities are
very devoted to the thaumaturge saints and it can be said with certainty that this hill has always been a place of devotion.
As always, the Catholic religion has superimposed, on the ancient cults,
veneration of saints who had the same attributes. In fact, the cult of brother saints who cured the sick in life, here in Isernia the believing community asked for intercession for cures, linked to fertility, as in the past they asked for care from Priapus.
The pagan character of the cult of Saints Cosmas and Damian remained alive until the end of the 18th century, when the ex-votos of the faithful were still represented by phallic objects.
The small church was first mentioned in 1130, but its dimensions were certainly small compared to the current layout.
It was certainly enlarged in 1523, and the work of enlargement and restoration was carried out by the bishop-cardinal Cristoforo Numaio, under the papacy of Clement VII, as attested by the epigraph below the main painting of the two owners of the basilica, on the high altar.