The little church is part of a Roman building that was once the hospice of St. Julian of the Flemings, built to shelter pilgrims from the county of Flanders (Belgium).

In the Consistory of November 26, 1994, Jan Pieter Schotte was appointed the first Cardinal-Deacon of St. Julian, a position now occupied by Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, created in 2010.

Tradition situates the foundation of the hospice of St Julian in the 8th century, when Flanders was converted to the Christian faith during the pontificate of Pope Gregory II (715–753).

However, it was probably in the 11th century that the Christian community of Flemish expatriates in Rome built a hospice for their fellow-countrymen, both pilgrims and visitors, with a chapel dedicated to their patron saint.

In 1096, Robert II, Count of Flanders visited the hospice on his way to the Holy Land, during the First Crusade, and possibly oversaw its restoration.

[2] From 1624, the Confraternita dei Fiamminghi that ran the hospice of St Julian carefully kept records of Dutch pilgrims who visited Rome.

With time, the little church of St Julian became more than a center for material support and served as a meeting place for all the southern Dutch living in Rome.

Active in the administration of Saint Julian between 1618 and 1643, the banker Pieter de Visscher, born in Oudenaarde, had his house in Frascati decorated with frescoes by Flemish Baroque painter Cornelis Schut.

Renowned artists such as Jan Miel and Louis Cousin (il Primo Luigi Gentile, Brussels) were part of the board of St. Julian.

The most important patron of the foundation was Nicholas Haringhe, a pharmacist from Ypres, who donated all his fortune in the late 17th century to the hospice of St Julian.

The purpose of the foundation has remained for centuries: offer help and hospitality to pilgrims, compatriots who reside in Rome or visit the Eternal City.

[4] The "Collegio Musicale San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi" was established with the support of Father Hugo Vanermen, Rector of the Church and Royal Belgian Foundation San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi in Rome, with the aim of creating a stable group for the performance of concerts dedicated to the Baroque repertoire.