The settlement of the Observant Friars in this area dates back to the early sixteenth century, after they abandoned a previous site, which had become insalubrious. As well as Saint Thomas Cathedral, this building was seriously damaged by the dramatic events of 1943, which erased the most significant traits of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century adjustments of the church. Among the heaviest losses, there is a fresco carried out by painters from Lombardy, who had added to the church a chapel consecrated to their patron saint Ambrose. Nowadays the most noteworthy art-works are the lunettes of the cloister, painted by the Polish artist Sebastiano Majewsky, who operated mainly in Teramo.