The architectural complex of St. Joseph’s, comprising the Church and the former College, was home since 1640 to the “first Hostel” of the religious and later to the ancient “Pious Schools,” the birth of which is due to the Spanish presbyter Giuseppe Calasanzio. Construction work, which began in 1663, continued until 1700 and, after a 20-year interruption due to the Wars of the Spanish Succession, would be resumed in 1720, concluding in 1735. Formal connotations typical of Counter-Reformation religious architecture emerge in this church, drawing on the example of the Gesù church in Rome. The architectural organism develops longitudinally between Via S. Giuseppe, Genovesi and Università, abutting the Elephant Tower. The plan of the church presents a longitudinal body with a single nave and barrel vault. Its elevations appear variously articulated due to the existing difference in height between the streets bordering it. The façade, introduced by a short asymmetrical staircase, appears flat, modulated only by pilasters with Ionic order capitals. The portal is surmounted by a tympanum with a broken curved cornice, with the Scolopian coat of arms inside, while above the tympanum is a blind space containing a small window. Inside are the imposing polychrome marble high altar, dating from 1777, the work of sculptor Giovanni Battista Franco, the pulpit and chancel balustrade also in marble and presumably contemporary. During the 18th century it suffered numerous bombings: in 1708, 1717 and 1793, during the siege of the city by French troops: one of the bombs that fell on the College is preserved inside the church, with a memorial plaque embedded in one of the piers. The church is the property of the F.E.C. Ministry of the Interior.
In 1943 the church suffered extensive damage in the elevation, chapels, and roofs, which were restored by the Civil Engineer between 1948 and 1952.
