Its origins date back to the period between 1220 and 1250, when it became the parish seat of Caltanissetta, as attested by a decree of Frederick II in 1239. According to tradition, the church was dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli after the alleged discovery of a Marian painting among the ruins of Pietrarossa Castle in 1600. However, it is considered more likely that the work, bearing the Moncada coat of arms, was commissioned by the family on the occasion of the arrival of the Franciscans. On September 18, 1601, Countess Luisa de Luna y Vega Moncada donated the complex to the Friars Minor, who built a convent using materials taken from the ruins of the castle and the fortress.
After the suppression of religious orders in 1866, the church was stripped of furnishings and paintings, including the painting of the Madonna, now preserved at the Collegio di Maria. The church, with a single nave and semi-octagonal apse, is flanked by a quadrangular convent with a cloister and cisterns.
Recent restorations have removed alterations and recovered original elements, such as ogival windows and medieval portals. Noteworthy is the main sandstone portal with Gothic motifs. Inside, remains of a 16th-century altar and the crypt with “seat-shaped” colatoi, once completely underground, have come to light.