[2] The first Christian place of worship here was a 5th-century oratory (chapel with welfare centre) in the Roman building beneath the present church.

[3] The Arcus Novus, an arch erected in 303–304 by the emperor Diocletian, which stood on this site, was destroyed during reconstruction of the church in 1491.

[4] Antonio Tebaldeo, poet and friend of Raphael, was buried at the end of the north aisle in 1537, though his tomb was designed in 1776.

In anticipation of the Holy Year of 1650, the church was renovated in 1639 by Cosimo Fanzago, but the façade, with its Corinthian columns imposing vertical emphasis, was completed (1658–1660) based on a design by Pietro da Cortona.

An altar in the lower church has a marble bas relief by Cosimo Fancelli commemorating the first excavations of the site.

Due to its proximity to the Roman residence of Napoleon’s mother, some members of the Bonaparte family were temporarily buried in the church.