Its origins are unknown but it may first have been housed in the ruins of a 1st-century BC pagan temple or in the area around the
stagnum Agrippae, after which the surrounding region is given its suffix "della Valle". The church first appears in the documentary record in an 1186 bull of
pope Urban III, which mentions it as one of the daughter-churches of
San Lorenzo in Damaso. It was restored in 1245 and 1597 - during the latter restoration it was raised after its repeated flooding by the
river Tiber.
Pope Clement X granted the painting a decree of
Canonical coronation and it took place on 1676. Under
pope Innocent XI it was completely rebuilt in 1682. It remained a parish church until
pope Leo XII (1823–29), when its parish was transferred to the nearby church of
Sant'Eustachio. Once belonging to the
Mercederians, it was transferred in the 19th century to the order of the Blessed Alfonso Liguori. ==Description==