First recorded in January 1177 as S. Martini in Arzonis,[1] the first, medieval church was located in the area of the present-day Fontanelle, south of Riccione.

[2][3][7] The medieval church contained one nave and three altars, dedicated to San Martino in Arcione, the Rosary, and Blessed Alessio Monaldi.

[1][3] Work to rebuild the church began on 10 November 1787,[3][11] under the direction of Sante Mazzotti, with donations from Michelangelo Almeri and the Mattioli family.

[3] The new church was built on Corso Fratelli Cervi, within the growing town to the north of the original site, along the ancient Via Flaminia.

The painter is unknown, but may have been the work of Ligorio Donati, a former apprentice of Giovan Battista Costa [fr], Agostino Masucci, and Tommaso Conca, who was active in the rural areas of Rimini.

[13][18] The cult of Monaldi intertwines with that of other saints named Alexis,[5][14][6] and the legend of the water source bears resemblance to that of St Isidore the Farmer.

[12] Historical records remember numerous local landowners carrying his surname,[14] but nobody bearing the name Alessio.

Don Alfredo Montebelli, San Martino's parish priest from 1937 to 1966, desired that a new place of worship be built.

[7][19] Benito Mussolini, Italy's dictator, whose family owned a summer villa in Riccione, promised to support its construction, but plans were shelved by the outbreak of the Second World War.

Maria's testament specified that the parish could only accept the land within twenty years of her death if the church's construction was financially viable.

[19] It features twelve stained glass windows, created between 1986 and 1992, which illustrate the seven sacraments, the birth of the Church, and Christ's incarnation, passion, death and resurrection.