Roch
Encyclopedia
Saint Roch or Rocco; lived c.1348 - 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c.1295 – 16 August 1327) was a Christian
saint
, a confessor
whose death is commemorated on 16 August; he is specially invoked against the plague
. He may also be called Rock in English, and has the dedication of St Rollox in Glasgow
, Scotland.
were the most ancient, and which were instead simple reworkings and additions.
According to Pierre Bolle, Saint Roch is a hagiographical doublet
of a more ancient saint, Saint Racho of Autun
(died ca. 660). Invoked for protection against storms, the figure of Racho would be the basis of the name of this saint (Racho/Roche), and of the patronage of the saint who recovers from the plague, patronage that would have been generated through aphaeresis
, i.e. the fall of the first syllable of the word, from the French name "tempeste" (storm): thus, from "Racho", invoked to protect from "tem-peste", to "Roche" protecting from "-peste" (plague), the step was short. It was supported by the theories of medieval medicine
, that attributed the causes of illness to the corruption of air and to the consequent breaking of the equilibrium of humours
inside the human body.
According to the veteran scholar André Vauchez, doyen of hagiographical studies, introducing the volume of essays resulting from a symposium on Roch in Padua
, Italy, 2004, Bolle's doctoral thesis "devastates pretty much everything we thought we knew about St. Roch and his cult" Consequently the thesis of Bolle has completely revolutionized the studies on the saint, even if in the hagiographic field the existence of doublets and homonym
s to the base of the creation of new saints is a well known procedure.
Veneration of Saint Roch is not so easily dismissed from the Internet, however. Gian Paolo Vico, of the Associazione San Rocco Italia, asserts that a prisoner of French origin held for five years died in Voghera, Italy the night between the 15 and 16 August, between 1376 and 1379, who according to some sources attained a certain fame for sanctity in Piacenza and Sarmato. according to Vico the 1391 calendar of Voghera records a mid-summer festival in honor of Sancti Rochi (St. Roch of Montpellier
, the 16th of August) and not Sancti Rochonis (St. Racho of Autun, the 25th of January), indicating the existence of two different saints. This information proves that a local cult and feast of St. Roch of Montpellier
existed at least as early as 1391, starting in Voghera before Montpellier. We also have documentation of the body of St. Roch of Montpellier
present in Voghera in 1469 and it being venerated since at least then; and of a feast in his honor being celebrated in 1483 in the presence of his remains. This information has led to the now common belief that St. Roch probably died in Voghera, Italy, instead of Montpellier
, France.
According to his Acta and his vita in Legenda Aurea, he was born at Montpellier
, at that time "upon the border of France" as Legenda Aurea has it, the son of the noble governor of that city. Even his birth was accounted a miracle, for his noble mother had been barren until she prayed to the Virgin Mary. Miraculously marked from birth with a red cross on his breast that grew as he did, he early began to manifest strict asceticism
and great devoutness; on days when his "devout mother fasted twice in the week, and the blessed child Rocke abstained him twice also, when his mother fasted in the week, and would suck his mother but once that day".
On the death of his parents in his twentieth year he distributed all his worldly goods among the poor like Francis of Assisi
— though his father on his deathbed had ordained him governor of Montpellier— and set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome. Coming into Italy during an epidemic of plague
, he was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente
, Cesena
, Rimini
, Novara
and Rome, and is said to have effected many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross
and the touch of his hand. At Rome, according to Legenda Aurea he preserved the "cardinal of Angleria in Lombardy" by making the mark of the cross on his forehead, which miraculously remained. Ministering at Piacenza
he himself finally fell ill. He was expelled from the town; and withdrew into the forest, where he made himself a hut of boughs and leaves, which was miraculously supplied with water by a spring that arose in the place; he would have perished had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them. Count Gothard, following his hunting dog that carried the bread, discovered Saint Roch and became his acolyte.
On his return incognito to Montpellier he was arrested as a spy (by orders of his own uncle) and thrown into prison, where he languished five years and died on 16 August 1327, without revealing his name, to avoid worldly glory. (Evidence suggests, as mentioned earlier, that the previous events occurred, instead at Voghera in 1370s.)
After his death, according to Legenda Aurea,
The townspeople recognized him as well by his birthmark
; he was soon canonized in the popular mind, and a great church erected in veneration.
The date (1327) asserted by Francesco Diedo for Saint Roch's death would precede the traumatic advent of the Black Death
in Europe (1347–49) after long centuries of absence, for which a rich iconography of the plague, its victims and its protective saints was soon developed, in which the iconography of Roche finds its historical place: previously the topos did not exist. In contrast, however, St. Roch of Montpellier cannot be dismissed based on dates of a specific plague event. In medieval times, the term "plague" was used to indicate a whole array of illnesses and epidemics.
The first literary account is an undated Acta
that is labeled, by comparison with the longer, elaborated accounts that were to follow, Acta Breviora, which relies almost entirely on standardized hagiographic topoi
to celebrate and promote the cult of Roch
The story that when the Council of Constance
was threatened with plague in 1414, public processions and prayers for the intercession of Roch were ordered, and the outbreak ceased, is provided by Francesco Diedo, the Venetian governor of Brescia
, in his Vita Sancti Rochi, 1478. The cult of Roch gained momentum during the bubonic plague
that passed through northern Italy in 1477-79.
His popular cult, originally in central and northern Italy and at Montpellier, spread through Spain, France, Lebanon
, the Low Countries
, and Germany, where he was often interpolated into the roster of the Fourteen Holy Helpers
, whose veneration spread in the wake of the Black Death
. The magnificent 16th-century Scuola Grande di San Rocco
and the adjacent church of San Rocco were dedicated to him by a confraternity at Venice
, where his body was said to have been surreptitiously translated and was triumphantly inaugurated in 1485; the Scuola Grande is famous for its sequence of paintings by Tintoretto
, who painted St Roch in glory in a ceiling canvas (1564).
We know for certain that the body of St. Roch was carried from Voghera, instead of Montpellier as previously thought, to Venice in 1485. Pope
Alexander VI (1492–1503) built a church and a hospital in his honor. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) instituted a confraternity of St. Roch. This was raised to an arch-confraternity in 1556 by Pope Paul IV; it still thrives today. Saint Roch had not been officially recognized as yet, however. In 1590 the Venetian ambassador at Rome reported back to the Serenissima that he had been repeatedly urged to present the witnesses and documentation of the life and miracles of San Rocco, already deeply entrenched in the Venetian life, because Pope Sixtus V "is strong in his opinion either to canonize him or else to remove him from the ranks of the saints"; the ambassador had warned a cardinal of the general scandal that would result if the widely-venerated San Rocco were impugned as an impostor. Sixtus did not pursue the matter but left it to later popes to proceed with the canonization process. His successor, Pope Gregory XIV (1590–1591), added St. Roch of Montpellier, who had already been memorialized in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for two centuries, to the Roman
Martyrology
, thereby fixing August 16 as his universal feast day.
Numerous brotherhoods have been instituted in his honor. He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, often lifting his tunic to demonstrate the plague sore in his thigh, and accompanied by a dog carrying a loaf in its mouth. The Third Order of St. Francis
, by tradition, honors him as a member of the Order, and still includes his feast on its liturgical calendar, observing it on August 17.
Saint Roch joined Saint Gerald
(San Gerardo) as a patron saint of the city of Potenza
, Italy.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
, a confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
whose death is commemorated on 16 August; he is specially invoked against the plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
. He may also be called Rock in English, and has the dedication of St Rollox in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland.
The cult of Saint Roch
According to the research of the Belgian historian Pierre Bolle (2001), which today represents the most exhaustive work on ancient lives of the saint, Saint Roch is not properly a historical saint. The work of Bolle by using a rigorous historical methodology, has clarified which of the hagiographiesHagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
were the most ancient, and which were instead simple reworkings and additions.
According to Pierre Bolle, Saint Roch is a hagiographical doublet
Doublet
Doublet may refer to:*Doublet , a man's snug-fitting buttoned jacket that was worn from the late 14th century to the mid 17th century*Doublet , an assembled gem composed in two sections, such as a garnet overlaying green glass...
of a more ancient saint, Saint Racho of Autun
Racho of Autun
Saint Racho of Autun is venerated as a Roman Catholic saint. He was a bishop of Autun, with a feast day on 25 January. According to Pierre Bolle, the anhistorical Saint Roch is a hagiographic doublet of Saint Racho of Autun...
(died ca. 660). Invoked for protection against storms, the figure of Racho would be the basis of the name of this saint (Racho/Roche), and of the patronage of the saint who recovers from the plague, patronage that would have been generated through aphaeresis
Aphesis
In phonetics, apheresis is the loss of one or more sounds from the beginning of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel.-Apheresis as a historical sound change:...
, i.e. the fall of the first syllable of the word, from the French name "tempeste" (storm): thus, from "Racho", invoked to protect from "tem-peste", to "Roche" protecting from "-peste" (plague), the step was short. It was supported by the theories of medieval medicine
Medieval medicine
Medieval medicine in Western Europe was composed of a mixture of existing ideas from antiquity, spiritual influences and what Claude Lévi-Strauss identifies as the "shamanistic complex" and "social consensus." In this era, there was no tradition of scientific medicine, and observations went...
, that attributed the causes of illness to the corruption of air and to the consequent breaking of the equilibrium of humours
Humorism
Humorism, or humoralism, is a now discredited theory of the makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers, positing that an excess or deficiency of any of four distinct bodily fluids in a person directly influences their temperament and health...
inside the human body.
According to the veteran scholar André Vauchez, doyen of hagiographical studies, introducing the volume of essays resulting from a symposium on Roch in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, Italy, 2004, Bolle's doctoral thesis "devastates pretty much everything we thought we knew about St. Roch and his cult" Consequently the thesis of Bolle has completely revolutionized the studies on the saint, even if in the hagiographic field the existence of doublets and homonym
Homonym
In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
s to the base of the creation of new saints is a well known procedure.
Veneration of Saint Roch is not so easily dismissed from the Internet, however. Gian Paolo Vico, of the Associazione San Rocco Italia, asserts that a prisoner of French origin held for five years died in Voghera, Italy the night between the 15 and 16 August, between 1376 and 1379, who according to some sources attained a certain fame for sanctity in Piacenza and Sarmato. according to Vico the 1391 calendar of Voghera records a mid-summer festival in honor of Sancti Rochi (St. Roch of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, the 16th of August) and not Sancti Rochonis (St. Racho of Autun, the 25th of January), indicating the existence of two different saints. This information proves that a local cult and feast of St. Roch of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
existed at least as early as 1391, starting in Voghera before Montpellier. We also have documentation of the body of St. Roch of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
present in Voghera in 1469 and it being venerated since at least then; and of a feast in his honor being celebrated in 1483 in the presence of his remains. This information has led to the now common belief that St. Roch probably died in Voghera, Italy, instead of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, France.
Biography
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, at that time "upon the border of France" as Legenda Aurea has it, the son of the noble governor of that city. Even his birth was accounted a miracle, for his noble mother had been barren until she prayed to the Virgin Mary. Miraculously marked from birth with a red cross on his breast that grew as he did, he early began to manifest strict asceticism
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
and great devoutness; on days when his "devout mother fasted twice in the week, and the blessed child Rocke abstained him twice also, when his mother fasted in the week, and would suck his mother but once that day".
On the death of his parents in his twentieth year he distributed all his worldly goods among the poor like Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
— though his father on his deathbed had ordained him governor of Montpellier— and set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome. Coming into Italy during an epidemic of plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
, he was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente
Acquapendente
Acquapendente is a city and comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio . Acquapendente is an important centre for the agricultural production of vegetables and wine, and has a tradition of pottery craftmanship.-History:...
, Cesena
Cesena
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea.-History:Cesena was originally an Umbrian...
, Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
, Novara
Novara
Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
and Rome, and is said to have effected many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross
Sign of the cross
The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
and the touch of his hand. At Rome, according to Legenda Aurea he preserved the "cardinal of Angleria in Lombardy" by making the mark of the cross on his forehead, which miraculously remained. Ministering at Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
he himself finally fell ill. He was expelled from the town; and withdrew into the forest, where he made himself a hut of boughs and leaves, which was miraculously supplied with water by a spring that arose in the place; he would have perished had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them. Count Gothard, following his hunting dog that carried the bread, discovered Saint Roch and became his acolyte.
On his return incognito to Montpellier he was arrested as a spy (by orders of his own uncle) and thrown into prison, where he languished five years and died on 16 August 1327, without revealing his name, to avoid worldly glory. (Evidence suggests, as mentioned earlier, that the previous events occurred, instead at Voghera in 1370s.)
After his death, according to Legenda Aurea,
- "anon an angel brought from heaven a table divinely written with letters of gold into the prison, which he laid under the head of S. Rocke. And in that table was written that God had granted to him his prayer, that is to wit, that who that calleth meekly to S. Rocke he shall not be hurt with any hurt of pestilence."
The townspeople recognized him as well by his birthmark
Birthmark
A birthmark is a benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or...
; he was soon canonized in the popular mind, and a great church erected in veneration.
The date (1327) asserted by Francesco Diedo for Saint Roch's death would precede the traumatic advent of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
in Europe (1347–49) after long centuries of absence, for which a rich iconography of the plague, its victims and its protective saints was soon developed, in which the iconography of Roche finds its historical place: previously the topos did not exist. In contrast, however, St. Roch of Montpellier cannot be dismissed based on dates of a specific plague event. In medieval times, the term "plague" was used to indicate a whole array of illnesses and epidemics.
The first literary account is an undated Acta
Acta
ACTA may refer to:* Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments, a standards organization for terminal equipment such as registered jacks* Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, in southern California...
that is labeled, by comparison with the longer, elaborated accounts that were to follow, Acta Breviora, which relies almost entirely on standardized hagiographic topoi
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
to celebrate and promote the cult of Roch
The story that when the Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
was threatened with plague in 1414, public processions and prayers for the intercession of Roch were ordered, and the outbreak ceased, is provided by Francesco Diedo, the Venetian governor of Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, in his Vita Sancti Rochi, 1478. The cult of Roch gained momentum during the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
that passed through northern Italy in 1477-79.
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and Germany, where he was often interpolated into the roster of the Fourteen Holy Helpers
Fourteen Holy Helpers
The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases...
, whose veneration spread in the wake of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
. The magnificent 16th-century Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a building in Venice, northern Italy.-History:The Scuola di San Rocco was established in 1478 by a group of wealthy Venetian citizens, next to the church of San Rocco, from which it takes its name.In January 1515 the project of the building was entrusted...
and the adjacent church of San Rocco were dedicated to him by a confraternity at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where his body was said to have been surreptitiously translated and was triumphantly inaugurated in 1485; the Scuola Grande is famous for its sequence of paintings by Tintoretto
Tintoretto
Tintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
, who painted St Roch in glory in a ceiling canvas (1564).
We know for certain that the body of St. Roch was carried from Voghera, instead of Montpellier as previously thought, to Venice in 1485. Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Alexander VI (1492–1503) built a church and a hospital in his honor. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) instituted a confraternity of St. Roch. This was raised to an arch-confraternity in 1556 by Pope Paul IV; it still thrives today. Saint Roch had not been officially recognized as yet, however. In 1590 the Venetian ambassador at Rome reported back to the Serenissima that he had been repeatedly urged to present the witnesses and documentation of the life and miracles of San Rocco, already deeply entrenched in the Venetian life, because Pope Sixtus V "is strong in his opinion either to canonize him or else to remove him from the ranks of the saints"; the ambassador had warned a cardinal of the general scandal that would result if the widely-venerated San Rocco were impugned as an impostor. Sixtus did not pursue the matter but left it to later popes to proceed with the canonization process. His successor, Pope Gregory XIV (1590–1591), added St. Roch of Montpellier, who had already been memorialized in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for two centuries, to the Roman
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Martyrology
Martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs , arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches...
, thereby fixing August 16 as his universal feast day.
Numerous brotherhoods have been instituted in his honor. He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, often lifting his tunic to demonstrate the plague sore in his thigh, and accompanied by a dog carrying a loaf in its mouth. The Third Order of St. Francis
Third Order of St. Francis
The Third Order of St. Francis is a third order within the Franciscan movement of the Roman Catholic Church. It includes both congregations of vowed men and women and fraternities of men and women living standard lives in the world, usually married...
, by tradition, honors him as a member of the Order, and still includes his feast on its liturgical calendar, observing it on August 17.
Saint Roch joined Saint Gerald
Gerard of Lunel
Saint Gerard of Lunel , also known as Roger of Lunel and as Saint Géri , was a French saint. Born to the French nobility, he became a Franciscan tertiary at the age of five....
(San Gerardo) as a patron saint of the city of Potenza
Potenza
-Transportation:Potenza is a rail junction on the main line from Salerno to Taranto, managed by FS Trenitalia; it has also a connection to Altamura, served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane regional company...
, Italy.
Europe
- Kościółek Świętego Rocha w Dobrzeń WielkiDobrzen WielkiDobrzeń Wielki is a village in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Dobrzeń Wielki and is situated in the central district of the Opole Voivodeship, lying approximately north-west of the regional capital Opole...
, Poland
- San Roque (Cádiz), town in Andalucia, Spain, named after Saint Roch
- Église Saint-RochÉglise Saint-RochThe Church of Saint Roch is a late Baroque church in Paris. Located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement, it was built between 1653 and 1722.- History :...
, Paris, Rue St.-Honoré: the largest Late Baroque church in Paris - St. Roch's Church in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland - Church of Saint Roch, attached to the Scuola Grande di San RoccoScuola Grande di San RoccoThe Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a building in Venice, northern Italy.-History:The Scuola di San Rocco was established in 1478 by a group of wealthy Venetian citizens, next to the church of San Rocco, from which it takes its name.In January 1515 the project of the building was entrusted...
in VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy - Eglise (Paroisse-Sanctuaire) de St. Roch in MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, France - Church of Saint Roch, ŽižkovChurch of Saint Roch, ŽižkovThe Church of Saint Roch, located on Olšany Square , is the oldest church in present-day Žižkov, a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic...
, PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest.... - St. Rochus Chapel in Bingen am RheinBingen am RheinBingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
, Germany - Kaplnka sv. Rocha VrbovéVrbovéVrbové ; ) is a town in the Trnava Region of Slovakia. It has a population of 6,309 as of 2005. The town lies around northwest from Piešťany.- Characteristics :...
, Slovakia - Chapelle de Saint-Roch at la Ville Morvan near CorlayCorlayCorlay is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:Inhabitants of Corlay are called in French corlaisiens.-External links:*...
, France - Chiesa di San Rocco in CasignanaCasignanaCasignanais a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 100 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 35 km east of Reggio Calabria...
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in ClesClesleft|thumb|200px|[[Saint Roch]] ChurchCles is a town and comune in Trentino, in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of northern Italy.-The Tabula clesiana:...
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in GirifalcoGirifalcoGirifalco is a comune and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Italy....
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in Gravagna (PontremoliPontremoliPontremoli is a small city, comune and bishop's see in the province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany, Italy. Literally translated, "Pontremoli" derives from "Trembling Bridge" , with the commune having been named after a prominent bridge across the Magra.Pontremoli is situated in the upper...
) Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in Miasino (Novara), Italy
- Chiesa di San Rocco in MolinaraMolinaraMolinara is a comune in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 80 km northeast of Naples and about 20 km northeast of Benevento...
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in MontescagliosoMontescagliosoMontescaglioso is a town and comune in the Province of Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy.The economy is mostly based on agriculture, including production of renowned oil and wine, as well as traditional food....
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in SalandraSalandraSalandra is a town and comune in the province of Matera, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata....
, Italy - Chiesa di San Rocco in ScillaScillaScilla is a genus of about 50 bulb-forming perennial herbs in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to woodlands, subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe and Asia...
, Italy - Kappella ta' San Rokku in AttardAttardĦ'Attard is a village located at the centre-most point of the island of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija it forms part of "the Three Villages" and has been inhabited since the Classical Period. Ħ'Attard's traditional Latin motto is Florigera rosis halo due to its many flower gardens and citrus...
, MaltaMaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in... - Santuario di San Rocco in ButeraButeraButera is an Italian town and comune in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southwestern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the comuni of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It has population of 5,063 and is far from Caltanissetta, the province's capital....
, Italy - Igreja de São RoqueIgreja de São Roque (Lisbon)The Igreja de São Roque in Lisbon was the earliest Jesuit church in the Portuguese world, and one of the first Jesuit churches anywhere. It served as the Society’s home church in Portugal for over 200 years, before the Jesuits were expelled from that country...
in LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal - St. Roch Church in Białystok, Poland
- San RoccoSan Rocco (Rome)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 G.A. De Rossi, and later changes were made introducing the...
, church in Rome - Sveti RokSveti RokSveti Rok is a small village in the Lovinac municipality, in Lika–Senj County, Croatia. Sveti Rok has a population of 292. The majority of the population are Croats....
, church in BrežiceBrežiceBrežice is a city and municipality in eastern Slovenia in the Lower Sava Valley, near the Croatian border. The area was traditionally divided between Lower Styria and Lower Carniola...
, SloveniaSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of... - Shën Rroku, church in Shirokë, AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
- Sveti Roko, church (not in use) DubrovnikDubrovnikDubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ... - San Rocco in SoraSora, ItalySora is a city and comune of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufactures, especially of paper-mills....
, (FR), Italy - Chapelle Saint Roch in Eprave (Rochefort) Belgique
- Sint-Rochus Kerk in AarschotAarschotAarschot is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Aarschot proper and the towns of Gelrode, Langdorp and Rillaar. On January 1, 2006 Aarschot had a total population of 27,864...
, Belgium - Sint-Rochus Kerk in Halle, BelgiumHalle, BelgiumHalle , is a Belgian city and municipality in the district Halle-Vilvoorde of the province Flemish Brabant. The city is located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal and on the Flemish side of the language border that separates Flanders and Wallonia...
- Rochuskirche in the Düsseldorf-PempelfortDüsseldorf-PempelfortPempelfort is a city part in the North-east of the central District 1 of Düsseldorf.It borders on Stadtmitte, Derendorf, the Cologne–Duisburg railway, connecting Flingern and Düsseltal, Oberbilk, Golzheim and the river Rhine....
district of DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
:de:Rochuskirche (Düsseldorf) - Rochuskirche in the LandstraßeLandstraßeLandstraße is the 3rd municipal District of Vienna, Austria] . It is near the center of Vienna and was established in the 19th century. Landstraße is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and residential homes. It has inhabitants in an area of 7.42 km². It has existed since...
district of ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
:de:Rochuskirche (Wien) - St. Roch Church in MinskMinsk- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,... - Chiesa di San Rocco, Venice, Italy
- Chiesa di San Rocco (Καθολικός Ναός του Αγίου Ρόκκου) in Hania, Crete, Greece http://www.chania.gr/en/city/monuments/saint-rocco.html
- Church of the Saint Rocco Donja Lastva, Tivat, MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
- Szent Rókus templom in CsongrádCsongrádCsongrád is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. Formerly, the city also had the alternate Slavic name of Černigrad, which, like the Hungarian version, means "Black Castle" or "Black Town".-History:...
, HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Levant
- Saint Roch Church in RayfounRayfounRayfoun is a small town in Keserwan District, Lebanon. It is bordered by Kleiat, Faitroun, Ajaltoun and Ashqout. The population is Maronite Catholic, and it is the birthplace of Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir.- Religion :...
, LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among... - Monastery of Saint Roch, Dekouaneh, Lebanon
- Monastery of Saint Roch, RiyakRayak (Riyaq)Riyaq , also Rayak, is a Lebanese town in the Beqaa Mohafazat , near the city of Zahlé. It has one military airport, an old train station on the former line from Beirut to Damascus, and a hospital....
, Bekaa, Lebanon
North America
- St. Roch's Catholic Church Toronto, Ontario
- St. Roch Church in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
- St. Roch's Church in Staten Island, New York
- St. Rocco's Church in Johnston, Rhode IslandJohnston, Rhode IslandJohnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...
- St. Rocco's Church in Dunmore, PennsylvaniaDunmore, PennsylvaniaDunmore is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, adjoining Scranton. Dunmore was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1862. Extensive anthracite coal, brick, stone, and silk interests had led to a rapid increase in the population to 8,315 in 1890, 12,583 in 1900, 17,615 in 1910, 20,250 in...
- St. Rocco's Church in Glen Cove, New York
- St. Roch Church in Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
- St. Roch Church in Mentz, Texas
- St Roch Church In Flat Rock, Michigan
- San Rocco Oratory in Chicago Heights, IllinoisChicago Heights, IllinoisChicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:...
- St. Rocco's Church in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
- St Roch Church, Oxford, Massachusetts
- San Roque Church in Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
- St Roch Church, Quebec CityQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Canada - Campo Santo and St. Roch Chapel in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
- St. Rocco's Church in Pittston, Pennsylvania
- St. Roch Church in the Chickahominy section of Greenwich, Connecticut.
- St. Rochus Croatian Catholic Church in Johnstown, PennsylvaniaJohnstown, PennsylvaniaJohnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
(closed July 22, 2009) - St. Rocco's RC Church Brooklyn, New York
- St. Rocco's Church Martins Creek, PennsylvaniaMartins Creek, PennsylvaniaMartins Creek is an unincorporated town in Lower Mt. Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, located along Martins Creek. The zip code is 18063. Its population was 1,200 as of the 1990 Census.-See also:...
South America
- Iglesia de San Roque in Tarija, BoliviaTarija, BoliviaTarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is both the capital and largest city within the Tarija Department, with an airport offering regular service to primary Bolivian cities, as well as a regional bus terminal with domestic and...
- Igreja de São Roque em São Roque (Sao Roque Town), Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo State) Brazil
- Iglesia de San Roque en San Francisco de la Montaña, Panamá
- Parroquia de San Roque, en Paranà, Provincia de Entre Rìos, Argentina
Asia–Pacific
- St. Rocky Church, Pootharakkal, Thrissur, Kerala, India
- San Roque Parish, Bagumbayan, Quezon City
- San Roque Roman Catholic Parish, Sulop, Davao del Sur, Philippines
- San Roque Church, San Roque, San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines
- San Roque Chapel, Bongoran, Oas, Albay, Philippines
- Saint Roch Catholic Church in Kahuku, Hawaii
- St. Roch's Church in Hanmer Springs, (Canterbury, New Zealand)
- St. Roch's Church in Glen IrisGlen IrisGlen Iris may refer to:*Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia*Glen Iris, Western Australia*Glen Iris Estate, owned by William Pryor Letchworth*Village at Glen Iris, Houston...
, Melbourne, Australia - San Roque Church in JP Rizal St., San Roque, Marikina City, Philippines.
- San Roque Parish Church of Navotas (Metro Manila, Philippines)
- San Roque Cathedral, Diocese of Caloocan (Metro Manila, Philippines)
- San Roque Parish Mandaluyong City http://sanroqueparish.com (Metro Manila, Philippines)
- San Roque Parish Church Cavite CityCavite CityThe City of Cavite is a fourth class city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. The city occupies a hook shaped peninsula jutting out into Manila Bay. Cavite City used to be the capital of the province...
(Philippines) - San Roque de Manila Parish in Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila (Philippines)
- San Roque Parish Church, Bagumbayan, Quezon City (Philippines)
- St. Roch Parish, Baluarte, Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
- Gumayu'us San Roque in San Roque village, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
- St. Roch's Church in Seethapal, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India
- St. Roch's Church in Puthukudyiruppu, NagercoilNagercoilNagercoil is the 12th largest city in the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District...
, Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India - St. Roch's Church in Veepu Vilai, Puthukkadai, KanyakumariKanyakumariKanyakumari is a town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also sometimes referred to as Cape Comorin. Located at the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, it is the geographical end of the Indian mainland. The district in Tamil Nadu where the town is located is called Kanyakumari...
, Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India - St. Roque's Chapel, Bandora, Ponda, Goa, India
- St. Roch Church in Nadu Aarupuzhi, TirunelveliTirunelveliTirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...
, Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India - St. Roch Chapel (St. Rocky), Muringoor (Mandikkunne), Chalakudy, Thirssur, Kerala, India
- San Roque GKK Dist. 1 Chapel, Tupaz St., Matina Crossing, Davao City
- San Roque Parish Ilasan, Tayabas City, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
- San Roque de Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines
- St. Rochs grotto at Assumption Church, Cheriyathura, Trivandrum, India
St. Rochs Association celebrates the feast on the second Sunday of December. - San Roque Chapel, Mabolo Valenzuela City (Philippines)
- Saint Roch Catholic Church, ThaKhai, Thailand
- St. Roch Church in Arockiapuram, Neyyoor, KanyakumariKanyakumariKanyakumari is a town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also sometimes referred to as Cape Comorin. Located at the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, it is the geographical end of the Indian mainland. The district in Tamil Nadu where the town is located is called Kanyakumari...
, Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India - San Roque de Montpellier Parish, Poblacion, Asturias, Cebu (Philippines)
- San Roque Parish, Brgy. San Roque Tarlac City (Philippines)
Other things named after St Roch
- Hermandad de San Roque (Sevilla), AndalusianAndalusianThe adjective Andalusian can refer to:*Andalusia, a region in Spain*Al-Andalus, a historical state on the Iberian Peninsula*Andalusian people, an ethnic group or nation in Spain centered in the Andalusia region...
brotherhood of the Holy Week whick makes its season of penitence every Palm Sunday in SevilleSevilleSeville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - Gare de Montpellier Saint-RochGare de Montpellier Saint-RochSaint-Roch is the main railway station in Montpellier, France. The station was formerly known as Gare de Montpellier, but since March 2005 it bears the name of Saint Roch, a native of the city, who was born in the 14th century...
, the main train station for the city of MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
. - São Roque (disambiguation)São Roque (disambiguation)-Brazil:* São Roque, São Paulo, a city and municipality in São Paulo state* São Roque de Minas, a city and municipality in Minas Gerais state* São Roque do Canaã, Espírito Santo, a city and municipality in Espírito Santo state...
, a list of Portuguese towns named after Saint Roch - St. Roch Avenue in the GentillyGentilly, New OrleansGentilly is a broad, predominantly middle-class and racially diverse section of New Orleans, Louisiana. The first part of Gentilly to be developed was along the Gentilly Ridge, a long stretch of high ground along the former banks of Bayou Gentilly...
neighborhood of New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population... - Sveti Rok TunnelSveti Rok TunnelThe Sveti Rok Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Lika, Croatia. It is long and it passes through the Velebit mountain. Sveti Rok Tunnel is located on a part of the between highway exits Sveti Rok and Maslenica on the A1 highway...
(CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
Tunel Sveti Rok) in LikaLikaLika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
, Croatia on the A1 MotorwayA1 (Croatia)The A1 motorway is the longest motorway in Croatia spanning . As it connects Zagreb, the nation's capital, to Split, the second largest city in the country and the largest city in Dalmatia, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the... - http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=Chemin+St-Roch,+Terrebonne,+Les+Moulins,+Quebec,+Canada&ie=UTF8&oi=georefine&ct=clnk&cd=2&geocode=FeBZuQIdChCa-w Chemin St-Roch (Road) in the city of TerrebonneTerrebonne, QuebecTerrebonne is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shores of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and of the Rivière des Prairies, North of Montreal and Laval....
, province of QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada - http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=Chemin%20St%20Roch%2C%20Saint-Paul%20de%20Vence%2C%20France Chemin St-Roch (Road) in the city of Saint-Paul de VenceSaint-Paul, Alpes-MaritimesSaint-Paul or Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, it is well-known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries such as Fondation Maeght which is located nearby.The property...
, province of Alpes-MaritimesAlpes-MaritimesAlpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
, France - http://maps.google.ca/maps?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=Chemin%20St%20Roch%2C%20Hamme%20Mille%2C%20Belgium&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl Chemin St-Roch (Road) in the city of Hamme Mille near BeauvechainBeauvechainBeauvechain is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 6,529 inhabitants. The total area is 38.58 km², giving a population density of 169 inhabitants per km²....
, province of Walloon BrabantWalloon BrabantWalloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
, Belgium - http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=Saint%20Roch%2C%20Belgium Chemin Saint Roch (Road) in the city of BeaumontBeaumont, BelgiumBeaumont is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut.On January 1, 2006 Beaumont had a total population of 6,698. The total area is 92.97 km² which gives a population density of 72 inhabitants per km²....
, province of Hainaut, Belgium - RCMPV St. Roch, Canadian RCMP Arctic survey schooner built in 1928
- St Roch bridge, a road bridge over the Warta river in PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Poland - Saint Roche's Hill, in West Sussex, England. Also known as The TrundleTrundle (hill fort)Trundle is an Iron Age hill fort on Saint Roche's Hill about north of Chichester, Sussex, England. Trundle is one of just four hill forts built in Sussex. The fort was built around a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, of which very little can be seen on the ground.- History :St...
- Shiroka village near Shkodra, Albania.
Popular culture
- A popular Spanish tongue twister is El perro de san Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado ("Saint Roch's dog has no tail because Ramón Ramírez stole it").
- In BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Saint Roch's day, though not as celebrated as it once was, is considered the "birthday of all dogs", in which the dogs around town can be seen with colorful ribbons tied to them. - The main train station of Montpellier, France is named after St. Roch, as well as a church, a hospital and many squares and streets.
- In BingenBingen am RheinBingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
, Germany there is a St. Rochus pilgrimage church on top of a hill. Every year in August a one week pilgrimage — the "St. Rochusfest" — is held in memory of a 17th century vow of the city council. - Some churches that are named after the saint distribute, as a pietistic practice, the "bread of Saint Rocco" to parishioners on August 16, his feast day.
- Saint Rocco's procession is featured in the movie The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
. In the procession, the St. Rocco Society of Potenza, Inc., which still exists after its commencement in 1889, carries the Italian-made (original) statue in a similar manner that a replica statue is carried today. The original statue, also from 1889, can be viewed in St. Joseph's Church in New York City. - According to Montague SummersMontague SummersAugustus Montague Summers was an eccentric English author and clergyman. He is known primarily for his scholarly work on the English drama of the 17th century, as well as for his idiosyncratic studies on witches, vampires, and werewolves, in all of which he professed to believe...
' The Vampire in Europe, St. Roch was prayed to in Poland to ward off vampire attacks. - The initials VSR (Viva San Rocco or Long Live St. Rocco) can still be found above doorways in Europe: This was engraved as a plea to ward off the plague.
- In Batman: Arkham City, Calendar Man commits a crime on the Feast Day of St. Roch (August 16th). He notes that it is an obscure holiday but says "I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate the dog days of summer."
External links
- Medieval Sourcebook: The Golden Legend, book V: Saint Rocke, William CaxtonWilliam CaxtonWilliam Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
, translator - Patron Saints: Saint Roch
- "St. Roch, Confessor", Butler's Lives of the Saints