The small church stood on the right bank of the Tiber until the early 18th century and takes its name from a tower that was part of the harbour fortifications built by Pope Leo IV (847-855). Sources on the early history and foundation of the medieval church are lacking; it is first mentioned in the Liber Censuum of Cencius Camerarius 1192. It was the seat of the Sodalizio dei Marinari di Ripa e Ripetta, which moved to S. Maria in Cappella in the 18th century. Early 16th-century views show a small one-nave church, with the apse facing south-west. The only indication of the time of construction is the triangular tympanum above the apse documented in the Codex Escurialensis, which is decorated with wide corbelled cornices and is reminiscent of the tympanum on the façade of S. Maria Cappella. This element and the bell tower documented in Filippino Lippi's fresco of the Triumph of Thomas Aquinas suggest that the building was constructed in the 12th century.

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