Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta commissioned the church around 1450 as a mausoleum for himself and Isotta degli Atti. Leon Battista Alberti designed the exterior, drawing on Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Constantine. Matteo de' Pasti executed it and claimed credit as architect in an inscription, and Agostino di Duccio did much of the sculpture.
It remained unfinished at Sigismondo's death in 1466, and the planned dome and upper facade were never built. The marble came from Roman ruins at Sant'Apollinare in Classe and Fano, and from headstones in the nearby cemetery. The infobox gives Romanesque, which the article does not support.
It was heavily damaged in World War II and reconstructed from pieces salvaged from the rubble. It is officially the cathedral of Rimini, dedicated to Santa Colomba.
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