The building was constructed in 980 and became the first synagogue in Rome in 1073 founded by lexicographer Nathan ben Jechiel. The building is in the Trastevere area the original Jewish quarter before the Jews were forced to move to the Ghetto. The building also housed a Mikvah. On the base of the central column Hebrew characters are visible.
In 1859 the basement was discovered and two statues were found, one was the model for the statue of David in Florence and the other, a statue of a horse larger than the one in Capitoline Square, now housed respectively in the Vatican museum and in the Capitoline museum.