San Rocco, Rome

Coordinates: 41°54′19.65″N 12°28′33.24″E / 41.9054583°N 12.4759000°E

San Rocco
Basic information
Location Rome, Lazio, Italy
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Architectural description
Architect(s) Giovan Antonio de' Rossi, Giuseppe Valadier
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Baroque
Completed 1832 (façade)
Specifications

San Rocco is a church at 1 Largo San Rocco, Rome, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is next to the Mausoleum of Augustus.

History

Founded in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI as the chapel of an adjacent hospital, it was rebuilt in 1657 to a design by Giovan Antonio de' Rossi, and later changes were made introducing the Neo-Classical style to it. A new, Palladio-influenced façade by Giuseppe Valadier was built in 1832.

Initially male only, a maternity wing for women from the Tiber barges was later added to the hospital and, over time, the hospital as a whole came to be used principally by unmarried mothers. Patients who did not wish to give their name had a wing set aside for them, and they were even allowed to wear veils to ensure their anonymity. The hospital was closed at the start of the 20th century and in the 1930s it was demolished for excavations on the Mausoleum, though the church remains and holds various paintings, including one of the Nativity and one of St Martin of Tours dividing his cloak, a Baroque altarpiece by Il Baciccia (to be seen in the sacristy), and a carved organ case. At the end of the right aisle is a shrine to the 17th century image of the Madonna delle Grazie, Our Lady of Graces - the second day of each month is devoted to Our Lady of Graces, a devotion that goes back to 1645.