The original of this 15th century palace was in the disappeared piazza Scossacavalli and it seems it was built by Bramante for the Spinola family, originally from Genoa. In 1938 the village spine was demolished and with it also the Palazzo dei Convertendi which was rebuilt on the site where other buildings of the ‘400 and ‘500 stood.
This palace is considered historic because it was the home of famous people such as the Queen of Cyprus, Charlotte of Lusignan and Raphael who lived there during the last years of life (hence the Convertendi palace was also called the house of Raphael). In the ‘600 this building was given the name Convertendi by the hospice that housed heretics who expressed the desire to return to the Church of Rome, once denied their heresy.
It is currently owned by the Holy See and houses the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches