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Church of St Roch in Poggio Catino: 16th-century frescoes in a Sabine hill town
The Church of San Rocco stands in the centre of Poggio Catino, a small village in the province of Rieti. Built between the 15th and 16th centuries, it houses a cycle of frescoes dated 1562 that is well worth a detour.
From its origins to the façade
The church was built between the canonisation of St Roch in 1414 and 1562, the date recorded in the apse. The façade is plain: two lateral volutes, a large central clock, and a small triangular pediment.
What to see inside
The interior has a single nave. In the apse there is a large fresco divided into two registers: in the upper section, the Crowned Virgin with angel musicians; in the lower centre, St Roch flanked by two rows of saints, preceded by the Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. On the side walls, a St Bernard wearing a white habit and mitre, and a second St Roch — with pilgrim's hat and staff. The saint's iconography in this church includes a telling detail: the hand pointing to a sore on his thigh and a small dog carrying a loaf of bread in its mouth. According to tradition, that dog fed the saint while he was ill with the plague, hiding in a cave. Thanks to a dedication beneath some of the frescoes, the decorations are dated to 1562, under the pontificate of Pius IV.
The August festival
In August, Piazza Indipendenza and the village lanes host the celebrations for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for St Roch.
