The church is a noteworthy example of the Baroque of Viterbo. It was built under the directions of the Gonfalone Confraternity from which it takes its present name, even though its historical dedication is to the precursor of Christ.
The female branch of the Cistercians has been in Viterbo since 1276. After three hundred years the Cistercian nuns were moved to the new foundation on the wishes of Duchess Gerolama Orsini , from which they got their present name of the Monastery of Maria SS. Della Visitazione, also known as “of the Duchess”.
Some documents tell of a coenoby existing in the area (at Casa Putida) in 838, then moved to a healthier area, as two documents from 1045 and 1048 attest. In 1145 Pope Eugene III gave the Cistercian monks of San Sulpice an abbey burdened by debts in an attempt to save the situation.
The church, cited in 1142 when it was subject to the Viterban cathedral of San Lorenzo, in 1236 it was named parish. The apse was constructed from peperino volcanic rocks that fell off of the edge of the underlying stream of Urcionio, that formed a gap as a natural defense of the city.
The church of the “Suffragio”, as it is known by the people of Viterbo, only came by its name in 1618. The primitive construction stood in the San Matteo in Sonsa area and was dedicated to San Quirico, martyr of Antiochia It had been opening its doors to followers since the XII century and had been mentioned in documents in the thirteenth century together with other parishes of the area such as Santo Stefano, San Matteo and San Giovanni.
According to the chronicler Francesco d’Andrea, when the Farfa monks gave the area of land to the Town Council of Viterbo in 1148 so that a new quarter could be built, which subsequently became the present day Pianoscarano, it was completely uninhabited. Furthermore, the monks reserved various rights in the churches that would be built on the site in the future, including that of burial.
The church, outside of the wall, is in the area of the ancient vico Soffiano. The first mention of the monastery complex dedicated to Saint Maria del Paradiso (Initially, it included the Blessed Virgin in the title). It dates back to 1268 when it was officiated by a group of Cistercian monks, depending on the powerful abbey of Farfa.
The structure was built between the end of the XV century and 1530 on the site of a country church. Its erection was an act of devotion by the people of Viterbo to the image of the Madonna with Child. It was commissioned by Battista Juzzante to Mastro Martello, known as il Monetto,, who painted it on a tile.
The start of work on the church of San Paolo in Viterbo coincides with the construction of the convent which dates back to November 6, 1589. The church was consecrated on February 8, 1615 by Cardinal Tiberio Muti, as evidenced by the plaque placed above the compass of the entrance door.
The church was built by the master developer Master Fardo di Ugolino of Uffreduccio. Notary and Franciscan tertiary. He was born in Viterbo, followed the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi in the city of Viterbo during the middle of the 1300s.
