The fresco on the facade of the church allowed the charterhouse dedicated to S. Giacomo to be dated to 1371, establishing that it is the oldest existing building on the island.

At the time, Queen Joanna I of Anjou sat on the throne of Naples, who wanted to give a piece of land she had in Capri to her loyal Chamberlain and Treasurer, Giacomo Arcucci, Count of Minervino and Lord of Altamura. It was he who decided to build a convent that two years later the queen assigned to the Carthusians of S. Martino.

The damage reported over time by the frequent Saracen raids made necessary, in 1563, a first renovation and expansion of the religious complex. Other interventions were carried out in the 18th century, by the will of the Canons from Laterna to whom the convent was then entrusted. With the dissolution of the religious orders during the French decade in 1808, the ancient Charterhouse was also acquired as a state patrimony, then used as barracks when the Bourbons returned to the throne, who later made it a hospice for the disabled. After the unification of Italy and until 1898, anarchists and soldiers accused of misconduct were sent there. In the 20th century it was again entrusted to the Lateran Fathers, who then left after the Second World War. Meanwhile, in the thirties, parts of the original 14th century structure re-emerged, hidden by subsequent interventions. Among the oldest structures, there is the porch of the church, embellished with frescoes dating back to the late 17th and early 18th century, with paintings by Nicola Malinconica depicting saints and characters from the Old Testament.

Also from the 14th century is the so called small cloister with round arches on Roman columns and capitals. The large Cloister, on the other hand, is Renaissance, surrounded by the cells of the Carthusian monks and the quarter of the prior, with a garden of medicinal plants, planted according to the dictates of the ancient Carthusian texts. In fact, a pharmacy was also part of the complex. As in all Charterhouses, the complex included, alongside the spaces intended for the cloister, those reserved for lay brothers and guests, as well as the granaries, stables and laboratories where the monks carried out their activities.

The Charterhouse of Saint Giacomo houses the high school of Capri and, in the refectory, since 1975, the Diefenbach Museum, permanent exhibition of the works of the artist Karl Wilhelm, who died on the island in 1913.