The planning of a temple for Saint Philomena in Santiago goes back to the period in which Fray Andresito, a great devotee of the Saint, began the first dealings with the government authorities to build a church in her name.

However, just in 1892 the Church of the Patron Saint Santa Philomena is built as a response to the Encíclica Rerum Novarum proclaimed by Pope Leon XIII in 1891, with the purpose of evangelizing the workers and their families.

In 1889 Eugène Joannon arrives to Chile hired by the government of the time to carry out some public works. Afterwards he decides to stay in the country and is hired as the architect of the Archbishopric. Acting as such, he designs many churches, among them the Church of Saint Philomena in 1892, which was concluded in 1894, thanks to the task of Padre Ruperto Marchant Pereira, who was the first parish priest of the Church.

The Church of Saint Philomena is of a neo-Gothic style and is richly ornamented inside. Its architecture stands out in the neighborhood where it is located, being an architectonic and cultural milestone in an area that is packed with low-rise constructions, allocated to trade activities.

The church was somewhat damaged after the February 2010 earthquake, which has now been repaired.