The building was consecrated in 1107 and dedicated to San Savino, the second bishop of Piacenza, and it was built upon initiative of the bishop Sigifredo where it was believed once existed the original basilica built by San Savino in the 4th century AD. 

The crypt is contemporary to the church (1100 AD) and it preserves splendid mosaics: one represents the months in a year and zodiac signs on a sea background, the other – in the presbytery – presents battle scenes, a chess play and an image of Christ. At the beginning of the 16th century the church passed on to the order of Geronimi after having been transformed into a commandry. 

The monks rebuilt the cloister and demolished the main altar, where they discovered the relics of the saint to which the church was dedicated. During the 18th century the inside was decorated with stucco and ornaments that altered the original Romanesque style. But the most radical intervention was carried out on the façade, which was rebuilt in 1721 and can still be seen today. 

The artworks inside San Savino are a wooden crucifix from the 12th century on the main altar, in the presbytery there is a removed fresco by an anonymous painter from Lombardy from the 15th century (a Virgin enthroned holding the Child) and at the bottom of the right nave there is a fresco “Virgin with Saints” from the 12th century.