The church was built in 1490-1520, designed by Matteo Carnilivari. The name derives from the presence, on one of the walls, of a chain (Italian: catena) which closed the Cala port.

The work mixes late Renaissance style and Gothic-Catalan style, the latter especially visible in the three-part arcaded loggia located at the top of a staircase (added in 1845). The interior is also late-Gothic, and includes a cavanas of Nativity with Adoration of the Shephers (17th century) from an unknown master, 16th century bas-reliefs attributed to Vincenzo and Antonello Gagini, who also sculpted the capitals of the columns and the entrance portals.

Annexed to the church is a 1602 convent house, which, starting from 1844, has been the seat of the State Archive.