Chiesa di San Rocco

The Church of San Rocco stands in the Lierna-area hamlet that took its name from the oratory. Built after a vow made by residents who survived the cholera epidemic of 1836, it was completed after a later epidemic and blessed in 1856; its altarpiece dates to 1616.

Why it matters

San Rocco preserves a local tradition linking the hamlet’s name and the church’s foundation to a collective vow. The parish history records that residents who survived the 1836 cholera epidemic promised to build an oratory dedicated to Saint Roch. An older painting donated in 1616 connects the modest nineteenth-century church to an earlier devotional history.

What to notice

The oratory has a single nave and a black-and-white marble altar, with a wooden statue of Saint Roch above it. The altarpiece depicts Saint Charles with Saints Peter Martyr and Alexis, bears the Arrigoni family arms and an inscription recording Bonacurio Arrigoni’s 1616 donation for an earlier chapel. The painting predates the present church by more than two centuries.

Context and history

The parish history records Germuzano as an older settlement in 1252 and 1496. In 1836, residents who survived a cholera epidemic vowed to build a church on land donated by Margherita Pensa Pozzi. Funding came from alms and bequests, but construction stalled. The building was completed after the epidemic of 1855 and blessed in 1856. Its altarpiece had been donated in 1616 for a different chapel.