It stands opposite the Quartiere degli Spagnoli on a site where, according to Perdichizzi, the church of S. Margherita (1622), formerly dedicated to S. Marta (14th century) and annexed to a hospital that would have housed S. Francesco di Paola, was located. Piaggia reports that during the siege of 1718 the building was demolished, so the present construction would date back to later years, perhaps preserving the original plan and disproving Ryolo's hypothesis about its possible Byzantine beginnings.
