The complex of the former Hospital of Santa Maria della Misericordia, identifiable by the trigram D M AE (= Domus Misericordiae, or house of mercy, with the ae overwritten to the m), was already, back in the Middle Ages, the most important charitable institution in the city.
The Hospital was established in 1303 to perform the functions of reception for pilgrims, poor, sick people and abandoned children. It was run by the brotherhood of the same name composed of clerics and laymen, active since 1296. After the years of the plague of 1348, an intervention of the City, which remained the owner of most of the structures, as it is still today, was necessary for its management.
Due to need for space, the hospital has expanded to include many adjacent buildings over the years. As a testimony, in many buildings of the street, the DME trigram is still visible. In the Armellini building, number 50, in addition to the DME logo, a fish is carved above the keystone of the arch, reflecting the fishmongers that remained there until the XVIII century; hence the ancient name of "via della Pesceria" (fishmonger road).
The Hospital, transferred to Monteluce in 1923 and then merged into the San Sisto Hospital in 2004, has still preserved the old logo and name.
The former Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, located at number 54, belonged to the Hospital. Its Gothic structure has undergone many transformations over the centuries. What appears today is the result of the XVIII Century restructuring of Pietro Carattoli. Outside, it has two niches. In the left one a fresco by Giovanni Battista Caporali with the Madonna della Misericordia of the XVI century and in the right one a Madonna among angels by Marinoda Perugia of the XIV century.
The complex, like other buildings in the street, rests on Etruscan walls, visible in some internal rooms, in particular at numbers 40 and 50 and highlighted by recent restorations.