Santi Ambrogio e Carlo

The first church on the site was called San Niccolò del Tufo. It was granted to the Lombard community by Pope Sixtus IV, after he had approved of the establishment of a Lombard Confraternity in 1471. They rededicated it to their patron St Ambrose, and restored the church.

In 1612 a new church was built by Onorio Longhi, and dedicated to Sts Ambrose and Charles Borromeo; the foundation stone was laid on 29 January of that year. The latter had been canonized in 1610, and it was this canonization that led to the enlargement of the church. The confraternity, now named the Archconfraternity of Saints Ambrose and Charles of the Lombard Nation, funded the project..Although the full name is Santi Ambro Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso the church is generelly known only as San Carlo al Corso. The architect died before the work was completed, and the façade was finally completed in 1684 by Gian Battista Menicucci and Mario da Canepina. The interior was designed by Martino Longhi the Younger, son of Onorio, in 1642 and slightly altered by Pietro da Cortona in 1651. The latter erected the dome and apse in 1668.

In 1929, it was given the status of minor basilica.

The interior was renovated in 2001. In February 2002, the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero wrote that the external wall have cracks in them, and the church was therefore in danger of collapsing. The damages may have been caused by the heavy traffic on the Corso. To prevent it from collapsing, steel reinforcements were put in place at the apse, and the church is now safe.

The church is served by Rosminian fathers.

It became a titular church for cardinals in 1627, when Pope Urban VIII suppressed the title of S Carlo ai Catinari. The first titular priest was Desiderio Cardinal Scaglia O.P. (appointed 1627, died 1639). The title was suppressed after his death, but resurrected in 1967. The current titular priest is Dionigio Cardinal Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Genua, who was appointed in 1998.