St Roque's Church, Valletta

Coordinates: 35°53′53.0″N 14°30′57.6″E / 35.898056°N 14.516000°E / 35.898056; 14.516000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Church of St Roque
Biserica Sfântul Rocco
Knisja ta' San Rokku
Style
Baroque
Administration
MetropolisWestern and Southern Europe
DioceseItaly
ParishRomanian Orthodox Parish of the Birth of John the Baptist
Clergy
ArchbishopIosif Pop
Bishop(s)Siluan Span
Priest(s)Popescu George Alexandru

The Church of St Roque (Maltese: Knisja ta' San Rokku, Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Rocco) is a 17th-century Baroque church located in Valletta, Malta. The church is the official parish church of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Malta and is subsequently used for Orthodox Divine services. The Romanian Orthodox parish is dedicated to the Birth of John the Baptist. The church still remains officially owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta.

History

The church was built in fulfillment to a vow made during the

plague of 1676, another vow was made to enlarge the church. Work commenced in 1680 under supervision of Lorenzo Gafà. Expenses were partly met by the Gradmaster Gregorio Carafa, commemorated on an inscription above the door. The church was blessed by the vicar general Ludovico Famucelli on 12 August, 1681.[1]

Interior

The church has three altars, the high altar and two side ones. The titular painting depicts the Immaculate Conception with Saint Roch and Saint Angelo and the victims of the plague. It is the work of Stefano Erardi. Another painting by the same artist is that of Saint Stephen located above one of the side altars. The other side painting depicts the Holy Trinity and is the work if Polambi.[2] Since Orthodox services commenced in the church, there were some changes to the decoration of the church to make it more compatible to Byzantine style worship.

References

  1. ^ "Valletta". malta-canada.com. Malta-Canada. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  2. .