The Church of St Roque ( mt, Knisja ta' San Rokku, ro, Biserica Sfântul Rocco) is a 17th-century Baroque church located in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, Malta. The church is the official parish church of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

in Malta and is subsequently used for Orthodox Divine services. The Romanian Orthodox parish is dedicated to the Birth of John the Baptist. The church still remains officially owned by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta (Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year 60 A. ...

History

The church was built in fulfillment to a vow made during the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

of 1593. After the plague of 1676, another vow was made to enlarge the church. Work commenced in 1680 under supervision of

Lorenzo Gafà Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger broth ...

. Expenses were partly met by the Gradmaster

Gregorio Carafa Fra Gregorio Carafa (17 March 1615 – 21 July 1690) was a nobleman from the House of Carafa and the 61st Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, from 1680 to his death in 1690. Early life Carafa was born on 17 March 1615 in Castelvetere ...

, commemorated on an inscription above the door. The church was blessed by the vicar general Ludovico Famucelli on 12 August, 1681.

Interior

The church has three altars, the high altar and two side ones. The titular painting depicts the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

with

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

and Saint Angelo and the victims of the plague. It is the work of

Stefano Erardi Stefano Erardi (1630–1716) was a Maltese painter whose works may be found in many churches around the Maltese Islands. His style has been described as either late Mannerist or Baroque. Biography Erardi was born in Valletta in 1630 to Sebasti ...

. Another painting by the same artist is that of

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

located above one of the side altars. The other side painting depicts the Holy Trinity and is the work if Polambi.Spiteri, Mikiel (2000). ''A Hundred Wayside Chapels of Malta & Gozo'', pp. 133–135. Heritage Books, Valletta. . Since Orthodox services commenced in the church, there were some changes to the decoration of the church to make it more compatible to Byzantine style worship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Roque's Church, Valletta Roman Catholic churches in Malta Buildings and structures in Valletta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Malta