This construction of this church, which contains a bone fragment from the foot of Saint Mary Magdalene, got underway in the 16th century.
Over the centuries it has become a focal point for the Florentine community in Rome, largely because the first parish priest called to serve the community was Saint Philip Neri, himself from Florence. It was here that the saint started to work on his project of creating Oratories.
Many important Italian artists, including Bramante, Raphael, Giuliano da Sangallo, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno and Francesco Borromini worked on the decoration of the building and the tombs of the latter two can be found inside the church.