This ancient church, which was built at the wish of Pope Ormisda (514-523 A.D.), was formed out of a large hall of the Roman baths that had been built by the emperor Caracalla.

It subsequently underwent several restorations, of which the most important were done in the late Middle Ages (12^th century), while in the 14^th century a number of alterations were made and traces of these still survive, such as the pointed arch with marble columns and brackets above a door in the western wall of the church.

In 1440 the church became the property of the Savelli family and some of this members were buried in the chapel, that has since been destroyed. The princely tombs can now be seen inside the church. There are also some stupendous marble trabeations of the Severan period that have been transformed into altars or balustrades.

Some very fine wall-paintings can still be seen, like the one of the Virgin in a niche, of the Byzantine period, or the larger one portraying St. Margaret and St. Honofrius, datable to the 13^th-14^th cent A.D. Other fine works are the large 16^th century altar-piece with a representation of St. Peter receiving the keys, and the eighteenth-century standards.

Outside the church, on the eastern side, we can admire two finely decorated, imperial Roman trabeations that have been used as door-jambs and the beautiful twelfth-century Romanesque bell-tower.

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