The Church of the Purissima was probably built after 1540, when the noblewoman Gerolama Rams Dessena, who had dedicated herself to monastic life, had the adjacent cloistered monastery of the Poor Clares built.
Then, in 1554, plans were made to enlarge the monastery and build the church.
An excellent example of the Catalan-Gothic style, it remained in use until 1867 when the monastery was suppressed and acquired by the state, which later used it as a school. Closed the monastery, dispersed the nuns, the church was also abandoned and closed for worship. Only in 1904, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was the church chosen for solemn celebrations and restored. In 1933, having fallen into oblivion once again, the church was assigned to the congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Family, who still care for it today. The building is in the original Catalan-Gothic style, which mainly characterizes its interior. The church has no front facade, and the entrance opens on the side facing Lamarmora Street. The interior consists of a single nave divided into two bays, vaulted with a simple Gothic cross vault. On each bay open side chapels, one on each side in the first bay, two on each side in the second. The church has been owned by the Italian state since 1867, through the FEC, Fondo Edifici di Culto del Ministero degli Interni. Thanks to a 2009 allocation from the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Department of Cultural Heritage, and under the high supervision of the BAPSAE Superintendency of Cagliari and Oristano, the Cagliari City Council oversaw the restoration.
