This church once belonged to the Monumental Complex of San Nicolò.
Construction of the Complex, which includes the church and the convent of San Nicolò, was begun in 1304 and it occupied the area where there were once two previous religious edifices: a primitive church dating to the IV century dedicated to San Nicolò of Bari and taken over in the 1200s by Augustinian friars, and the church of San Massimo, as well as some private houses in the immediate vicinity.
The new building was designed with grand features and remarkable proportions, both the part designated for use as a convent, which became a humanist centre that attracted some of the greatest scholars and humanists of the time (in 1512 Martin Luther stayed there), and the very vertical, single-hall church.
The nave, onto which the chapels opened and whose walls were covered in painted decorations, frescoes and statues, is connected to the polygonal apsidal tribune covered with an umbrella vault. Double lancet windows are set among the arms of the ceiling arches along a scenic hanging gallery and give the building light and movement. The lower level of the outer part of the apse coincides with Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, which dates to the same period.
The façade is quite simple, with two slopes and a Gothic-style entrance arch where there was once a rosette. In the lunette you can still see a fresco depicting the Madonna with Child surrounded by Saints Augustine and Nicola. It was done in 1412 by a painter known as the Maestro della Dormitio di Terni.
The convent has two cloisters: one dating to the XIV century located along the side of the church and thus creating a portico with pilasters of pink and white stone, and then the side of the convent with slim columns and capitals, and the second cloister, which was added in the XV century, runs alongside a private building and is graced with two rows of slender terracotta pilasters. Both porticos enclose the garden where two stone statues made by Anna Mahler sit, the Woman drinking and Woman looking at the sun.
The complex is now used for conferences, shows, concerts and exhibitions.