The term may also refer to the adjacent Naples music conservatory, which occupies the premises of the monastery that used to form a single complex with the church.

The church stands at the western end of Via dei Tribunali, one of the three parallel streets that define the grid of the historic center of Naples; the church is considered one of the most significant examples of Angevin architecture in Naples and was built at the wishes of Giovanni Pipino da Barletta, one of the knights of Charles II of Anjou and the one responsible for destroying the last Saracen colony on the southern peninsula, in Lucera.

After the restoration of the monarchy, the monastery was reopened, but in 1826 was converted to house the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory, a function it preserves.

The main altar was completed in the seventeenth-century, built by Cosimo Fanzago, and Pietro and Bartolomeo Ghetti, is decorated with large vases and candlesticks in silver and preceded by a balustrade covered in polychrome marbles.

The ceiling of the nave, with drawers, and the transept feature paintings by Mattia Preti depicting Episodes from the life of St. Peter Celestine and Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1657–59).