Chiesa di San Rocco

In 1533, plague killed 450 people in Spilimbergo within three months. The town vowed a church to the Madonna and San Rocco, and the small votive building was completed by 1536. Its plain form and later furnishings preserve the memory of that communal act.

Why it matters

San Rocco was remembered as the church of ordinary townspeople, in contrast to the Duomo associated with the counts and the church of San Pantaleone with wealthy families. Its dedication to the plague saint reflects the crisis from which it arose, while the paired invocation of San Floriano and the Madonna della Salute extends the church's protective imagery.

What to notice

The church has a simple rectangular plan and a single altar. Images by Gaspare Narvesa show San Rocco and San Floriano with the Vergine della Salute above them. Umberto Martina's 1922 canvas is associated with the restoration after the First World War, while three stained-glass windows installed in 2001 depict the Annunciation and San Rocco. The square bell tower, added in 1883, has a belfry with eight pointed openings and an octagonal spire.

Context and history

The outer portico was demolished sometime after the bell tower was built. During the First World War the church was requisitioned as a warehouse; restoration in 1922 returned it to worship. The votive origins and the tradition of San Rocco as the people's church remain central to its history.