Built in the last years of the 15th century, it became the seat of the Inquisition Tribunal in the 16th century, and in 1568 it passed to the Jesuits of the nearby Casa Professa. In 1731, the bell tower of the adjacent Gesù Church was erected.

Stylistically, it is a magnificent product of that architectural current that, in reaction to the Catalan-inspired decorative style of the 15th century, restored severity to the structures, used strong and marked moldings, and cut the buildings into the living substance of squared stone, without plaster. But the seduction of the flourishing Gothic is still present in the window embedded in the tower, which, moreover, has a crown of corbels of dryly decorative cut. The inner courtyard, with Gothic arches, contains a scirocco chamber, that is, an underground room where one could cool off on days of extreme heat.

Today it houses the rare manuscripts of the Palermo Municipal Library.