The building stands on the area, moreover expanded, of the ancient church built outside the Stampace district probably in the 16th century. Made with a large barrel vault, it still retained Gothic references with pointed arches for the chapels. Of these, however, the most prominent near the entrance was the Ripoll Chapel, dating from the late 1500s. Preceded by a coffered barrel vault and covered by a dome, it was among the few examples of Renaissance architecture in Cagliari like St. Augustine’s and the Chapel of the Rosary in St. Dominic’s, which are still preserved. The Carmelite convent was expropriated in the second half of the 19th century and sold to private individuals: the Picchi palace, adjacent to the church, still stands in its area. The bombing of 1943 caused very serious damage to the religious building, and after several indecisions about the possibility of its recovery, the project of architect Ghino Venturi for a reconstruction from scratch was approved. The present church, inaugurated in 1953, has a modern facade that mixes “Romanesque” elements in the upper arches and “Gothic” elements in the rose window. The interior, spacious and bright, has three naves with a wooden truss in the central one and is marked by the large apse basin with colorful mosaics by Aligi Sassu. It holds some of the paintings belonging to the ancient building and saved from the bombs since they were transported to safety during World War II. The tall bell tower is a total novelty compared to the ancient building, like the one built in the new S. Domenico in the same years.
