La Chiesa di San Rocco (
English: The Church of Saint Roch) is a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
building that is part of the ''Parish of Saint Giacomo''. The original conjoined building dates from 1499 and is located at 1 Largo San Rocco, Rome.
The shrine is dedicated to
Saint Roch
Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...
with his preserved relics and was built next to the
Mausoleum of Augustus
The Mausoleum of Augustus (; ) is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via di Ripetta as it runs along th ...
. Known for its ornate interior, the shrine has merited various patronages by several Popes. The current shrine is maintained and administered by the ''Confraternity of Saint Roch''.
History
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503.
Born into t ...
issued a Pontifical decree ''Cogitantes Humanæ Conditionis'' on 11 June 1499 which gave to the Confraternity of the Osti and Barcaroli (innkeepers and boatmen), based at
Ripetta, the small old church of San Martino de Pila and permission to build a hospital on a plot of land close to the Mausoleum of Augustus. The church was called San Rocco e Martino. The Church of San Martino was destroyed in the sixteenth century and some of its furnishings transferred to the new San Rocco.
A hospital for plague sufferers was soon constructed and dedicated to their patron,
Saint Roch
Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...
.
["Church of San Rocco all'Augusteo", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department]
/ref> Initially male only, a maternity wing for women from the Tiber
The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...
barges was later added to the hospital and, over time, San Rocco Hospital as a whole came to be used principally by unmarried mothers.[ The hospital was closed at the start of the 20th century and in the 1930s it was demolished for excavations on the Mausoleum, as was the church's bell tower.
In 1527, a forty—two feet, ancient Roman obelisk was discovered on the site of San Rocco. It was later removed to the area of ]Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...
, as it was hampering cart traffic around the port.
In 1811, Giuseppe del Medico, professor of surgery and lecturer at the Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...
published ''Anatomia per uso dei pittori e scultori''. He is buried at San Rocco.
Confraternity of the Cord of Saint Joseph
The Archconfraternity of the Cord of Saint Joseph was based at the Church of San Rocco.
The cure of an Augustinian nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
at Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
in 1657 from a grievous illness, through the wearing of a cord in honour of Saint Joseph
According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...
, gave rise to the pious practice of wearing it to obtain the grace of purity through his intercession. The devotion soon spread over many countries of Europe, and in the 19th century was revived at Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in the Church of Saint Roch and in that of Saint Nicolas at Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
, in a rescript
A rescript is a public government document. More formally, it is a document issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a question (usually legal) posed to the author. The word originates from replies issued by Roman emperors t ...
dated 19 September 1859, approved a special formula for the blessing of the cord of Saint Joseph.
The brief ''Universi Dominici gregis'' of 23 September 1862, raised the Confraternity of the Cord of Saint Joseph was to an archconfraternity.
The cord is white, in token of St. Joseph's purity of heart, and has seven knots, denoting his seven joys and sorrows. Members are encouraged to recite daily seven '' Glorias'' in honour of St. Joseph.[Heckmann, Ferdinand. "Confraternities of the Cord." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 17 Aug. 2014]
/ref> The White Cord of Saint Joseph can be worn around the waist for purity or around the shoulders for obedience. Any priest can bless the girdle, after which when worn for the first time, enrolls one in the Archconfraternity of the Cord of Saint Joseph; the formula "Priest's Blessing of a Cincture" found in the Roman Ritual
The ''Roman Ritual'' (), also known as the ''Ritual'' is one of the official liturgical books of the Roman Rite of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services that a priest or deacon may perform; and are not contained ...
can be used for this.
Confraternities of the Cord of Saint Joseph must be aggregated to the archconfraternity in the Church of St. Roch at Rome in order to enjoy its spiritual favours and indulgences.
Roman architecture
The new Church of San Rocco was constructed around 1509.[''Leonardo da Vinci – Nature and Architecture'', (Constance Moffatt, Sara Taglialagamba, eds.), BRILL, 2019, p. 209]
Built as the chapel of the adjacent hospital, it was rebuilt in 1657 to a design by Giovan Antonio de' Rossi. He added a small dome, the sacristy and the new chapel of the "Madonna delle Grazie". Later changes were made introducing the Neo-Classical style to it. A new, Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...
-influenced façade by Giuseppe Valadier
Giuseppe Valadier (April 14, 1762 – February 1, 1839) was an Italian architect and designer, urban planner and archaeologist and a chief exponent of Neoclassicism in Italy.
A teacher of architecture at the Accademia di San Luca, Valadier was a ...
was built in 1834, inspired by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be on ...
's work on Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
San Giorgio Maggiore (San Zorzi Mazor in Venetian language, Venetian) is a 16th-century Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine church on the San Giorgio Maggiore, island of the same name in Venice, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio, and b ...
. The coat of arms of Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...
is over the main entrance. Two “Angels holding candles” were added to the façade in 1984.
Interior
The sermon pulpit was gifted by Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...
. The main altarpiece over the main altar is ''The Apotheosis of St Roch'' (1674) by Giacinto Brandi. The fresco of ''St Martin Sharing His Cloak with a Beggar'' (1885) is by Cesare Mariani. The church has relics of Saint Roch in a silver reliquary.
Baldassare Peruzzi
Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and l ...
's fresco of ''Our Lady, St Roch and St Anthony the Abbot'' was extensively restored by Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio or Baciccia (Genoese nicknames for ''Giovanni Battista''), was an Italian Baroque painter working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for h ...
. Peruzzi was an officer of the Confraternity.[ Other frescoes by Peruzzi were destroyed by floods.
There are three chapels on each side:
* Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes
* Chapel of the Nativity (The fresco altarpiece is by Baldassarre Peruzzi.)Frizzoni, Gustavo. "Three Little Noticed Paintings in Rome", ''The Burlington Magazine'', Volume 20, 1912, p. 263]
/ref>
* Chapel of Saint Anthony of Padua
* Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception
* Chapel of Saint Joseph the Patriarch
* Chapel of Saint Francis of Paola
Giacinto Brandi painted ''San Rocco intercede per i malati di peste'' (1673). The carved organ case and cantoria over the entrance doorway dates from the first half of the 18th century. The interior was restored again in 1885.
Image:chiesa-san-rocco.JPG, Church of San Rocco
Image:largo-san-rocco.JPG, Address sign; Largo S. Rocco; the photo also includes part of an old hydrometer
A hydrometer or lactometer is an instrument used for measuring density or relative density of liquids based on the concept of buoyancy. They are typically Calibration, calibrated and Graduation (instrument), graduated with one or more scales suc ...
Image:Dome of San Rocco all'Augusteo (Rome) HDR.jpg, The Dome
Image:Ceiling of San Rocco all'Augusteo (Rome) HDR.jpg, The ceiling
References
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Rocco
Rocco
16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy