Santa Maria in Tempulo is a deconsecrated church in Rome's Celio district, set along Via Valle delle Camene on the lower slopes of the Caelian Hill. The oldest parts of the building probably date back to the sixth century, when a Greek religious community established a small oratory here dedicated to Saint Agatha, a name by which the church was long known. Its survival into the medieval period was likely due to the patronage of Pope Sergius III, during whose time the convent was led by the abbess Efemia, remembered in the sources as venerabilis diacona — the Venerable Deaconess Efemia. Under Pope Benedict VII the community was headed by Constantia, a woman of Roman aristocratic background. The convent church was rebuilt between 800 and 850, and this early medieval structure is the one that has come down to the present day. No longer used for worship, Santa Maria in Tempulo is now owned by the Commune of Rome, its modest form preserving the Roman architecture of its origins. - AsNotedIn