Chiesa di San Rocco

The Church of San Rocco in Levanto was once the conventual church of the Poor Clares and preserves features of its enclosed monastic past.

Why it matters

Originally dedicated to the Santissima Trinità, the church became part of the Clarisse complex after the nuns entered their monastery in 1688. The monastery later became Levanto's town hall, while the church retained its religious and artistic furnishings. Its grilles and painted presbytery preserve evidence of cloistered worship.

What to notice

Two choir grilles survive in the area where cloistered sisters followed the liturgy. A large trompe-l'oeil of columns and angels forms the backdrop to the presbytery; Francesco Maria Schiaffino's marble altarpiece was later moved to the parish church of Sant'Andrea. Other furnishings include eighteenth-century canvases of the Evangelists, a wooden processional crucifix, a statue of San Rocco and a marble Madonna and Child. Two eighteenth-century bells remain in the small bell gable.

Context and history

The church was the first part of the Clarisse complex to be completed, backed by the municipality and the founder's family from 1605. Its original dedication was to the Trinity; it later became associated with San Rocco, a plague saint venerated along the Ligurian coast. After the convent was suppressed, the church passed to municipal ownership. The former monastery and church now serve complementary civic and religious roles beside Piazza Cavour.