Roč, Chapel of St. Roch

The Chapel of St. Roch was built within the fortified settlement of Roč. According to its typological features, it belongs to the group of Romanesque single-nave buildings with an inscribed semi-circular apse. Although it was originally entirely painted, the medieval painting layer is preserved today only in the apse.

 Three layers of painted plaster are visible, the oldest of which belongs to the Romanesque period. On the middle layer, preserved in the lower right part of the apse, scenes of the Decapitation of St. Paul and the Crucifixion of St. Peter can be seen. Their stylistic and formal characteristics point to a painter trained in the Venetian milieu of the late 14^th century. The most recent layer of frescoes is organized into three registers. The upper zone is occupied by the Maiestas Domini depiction, of which only the zoomorphic symbols of the Evangelists John and Mark are visible. In the central register, a row of apostles is depicted within painted arcades, while a painted velarium is located beneath them. A Glagolitic graffiti from 1496, preserved on the older layer of frescoes, allows the dating of the more recent layer to the late 15^th century.

The frescoes were discovered by Branko Fučić in June 1947, and he published their scientific analysis in 1963, in the book Istarske freske.

Iconographic program:

Eastern wall: 1 Decapitation of Saint Paul and Crucifixion of Saint Peter, 2 Maiestas Domini, 3 Apostles.