Built from 1481 to 1495, in conjunction with the construction of the fortress, and consecrated in 1505 under the name of San Salvatore, the church was entrusted to the Friars of the Order of the Servants of Mary, who held it until 1810, when they were forced to leave Gradisca by order of Napoleon Bonaparte.

For about forty years, the church, deconsecrated, was used as a warehouse. In 1850, re-consecrated, it was returned to worship and entrusted to the parish priests of the Gradisca parish. It was then that it assumed the name of Church of the Beata Vergine Addolorata.

It suffered severe damage during the First World War and was devastated by a fire in 1917. Reopened in 1923, it preserves a venerated statue of the Madonna Addolorata that, according to legend, was recovered from the waters of the Isonzo river in a distant year of the 16th century, and has watched over the city ever since.

Inside, major items of interest are the main altar, the side altars, and some valuable works of art.