The Church of St. Nicholas of Bari was built in San Polo dei Cavalieri by Crusaders on their return from a campaign in the Holy Land.
The smooth façade, in plastered brick, has a pitched roof. The only elements that are slightly in relief are the moulding of the upper windows and the decorations of the portal; marble cornicing and spiral moulding which support a broken tympanum holding in its centre a shrine beneath a cross.
Inside, the nave has a flat ceiling and square apse. The walls are enlivened with moulded plasterwork arches, separated by embedded columns with capitals. Above each arch is a rectangular window.
The carved wood altar is flanked by two columns that support an architrave which features angel candle holders and a central shrine with an elaborate frame.
Local historians hold that the church was first built between the 13th and 14th centuries, a time when worship of St. Nicholas of Bari (who was believed to have saved several townsmen from death while on crusade) was at its zenith.
The ancient tower of Castrum Sancti Pauli became the bell tower and still houses a bell that dates to 1390.
A stone inscription placed inside records that the church was 'rebuilt and expanded' in 1587. The bell tower was destroyed when hit by lightning and rebuilt in 1669 (date inscribed on the inner vault) by Marcello Santacroce, Bishop of Tivoli.
The octagonal cupola and its decoration are attributed to the architect Guidetto Guidetti, who also designed the Church of St. Catherine of the Ropemakers in Rome, commissioned by Cardinal Cesi.
The building was renovated in 1910 when the painter Mario Agrifoglio painted the ceiling and walls. The main altar, in painted wood and plaster, dates to 1787 and is placed over an older previous altar.
Fragments of the altar painting of St. Nicholas of Bari date to the 15th century, but the original layer been completely painted over. The Sacresty was joined to the church in 1805 while the bell tower was completely restored in 1828.

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