It was considered one of the primary monasteries of Palermo; the nuns came from noble families and professed the rule of San Domenico. The monastery was built after 1311 by the will of B. Mastrangelo. In 1532, due to the increasing number of nuns, the church of San Matteo was purchased by the monastery to enlarge the building. In the seventeenth century the monastery had become one of the most important in the city for wealth and extension and occupied now an entire block. The monastery suffered several damages both during the movements of 1848 and 1860, and during the bombings of 1943.The last nuns left the monastery in 2014 and today it is open to the public and managed by Palermo's Curia. The property is owned by the FEC (Fondo Edifici Culto).

 

From 2018 it hosts the exhibition "Sacra et Pretiosa".