The historic origin of the religious site goes back to the year 645. In this year, fugitive monks from the monastery of St. Sabas (Mar Saba, Palestine), who had fled their home country after the Islamic invasion, came to Rome to attend the Lateran Council. After the council, these Sabaite monks settled down in an old "domus" (=noble estate) on the "Piccolo Aventino" (the smaller crest of the Aventine hill, which at this time was deserted due to the big decrease in Rome's population. Here, they founded an eremitic cell. The Sabaites introduced the cult of St. Sabas to Rome. In ancient sources, their monastery however goes by the name "cellas novas" or "cellaenovae", which refers to the "cellae" (=cells) of their mother abbey, Mar Saba.