The building stands near Porta San Niccolò and was originally the Oratory of the Confraternity of the Virgin Mary of the White Robe, dedicated to the Mother of Jesus:
“Oratorium Sotietatis Sancte Marie fruste Albe de Terra Nova.”
Archival records show that it was led by a Prior and a Superintendent and served as both a religiousand social center.
The surviving structural elements allow the reconstruction of its original appearance: four single-lancet windows high on the walls, a circular window on the façade, a gabled truss roof, four side altars, and a main altar at the end.
In 1776, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany issued the law suppressing monasteries and religious institutions, which also affected the Compagnia della Veste Bianca (“White Robe Company”). Its assets were confiscated by the state, and soon afterward the Marquis Francesco Giuseppe dei Medici-Tornaquinci purchased the property for the use of the twenty farms belongingto his Terranuova estate.
When the single volume of the church was divided into two levels, the sacred space lost itsfunction: the ground floor became a wine cellar and the upper level a storage and drying room, while the old sacristy was converted into a woodshed.
For the next two centuries, between the church and the castle walls, came additions, alterations, demolitions, and collapses during wartime. The adopted son of General Coralli, who had married a Medici but had no children—later inherited the property. He rebuilt, raised, and transformed the building, partly destroying its artistic and historical features.
A few decades ago, however, the building was partially acquired by the Municipality and given new life. The lower portion of the former church was converted into the Town Council Chamber, whichalso houses historical mementos of community life. The upper floors have been adapted for othercivic uses.