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

The attached church was initially dedicated to the twelve apostles, but Sabinus himself was buried here.

[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.