It stands on Via Vecchiarelli, just south of the Lungotevere Tor di Nona and north of via dei Coronari.

The oldest attestation of the church has it built on the ruins of an ancient pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Europa and surrounded by laurel trees.

It was rebuilt around 1450 by Cardinal Latino Orsini, as a chapel for a monastery he established next door, and in which he installed the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga.

The façade, faced in travertine, was finished only in 1862 by the architect Camillo Guglielmetti, winner of the competition organized by the Accademia di San Luca.

Parmigianino's Vision of Saint Jerome was commissioned for a chapel in the church, but was later brought away by the donors and is now in the National Gallery, London.