San Savino was established as a Benedictine monastery in 903, located outside the then city walls.

[4] The monastery of San Savino is mentioned in a 1132 bull of Innocent II[5] The crypt of the church has 12th-century mosaics depicting the zodiac signs on a marine background.

In the 17th century, the church interior was decorated in a Baroque style, hiding much of the original Romanesque details.

[8] In 1819, the hospice for "orphans and the exposed" (Ospizio degli Orfani ed Esposti) with 60 children was moved to the Girolamini monastery attached to San Savino.

The hospice had been founded in 1573 by the then bishop, and run by the Somaschi order of clerics regular.