The church of San Bernardo, built on top of a pre-existing 14th-century building, is located on a natural hill and is part of a vast architectural complex – the convent is now Palazzo Coppa – which occupies an area of the city that today would be defined as a completion, and which fits well into the new urban layout that began around the middle of the 14th century.

The church was dedicated to St. Nicholas and retained this name until 1626, when Pope Urban VIII merged the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas with that of St. Michael into a single chapter. In 1644, it was ceded to the Reformed Friars of St. Bernard, who immediately began construction of the convent. The current church was designed in the second half of the 1700s by architect Santino Capitani, who radically modified the previous one. It is believed that the original structure had three naves, which in the 1700s were reduced to a single nave with four large side chapels. The walls are embellished with exquisite stucco work and, in particular, on the wall behind the façade, there is a bas-relief depicting Christ driving the merchants from the temple.

The crypt features some fresco decorations and appears to be older than the building above it, as do the two arches still visible on the north exterior, the only elements still present from the original 14th-century construction. The brick façade, despite its simplicity, is quite elaborate and rich in ideas, but unfortunately it is now barely visible because it is covered by buildings from a later period.