Chapel of St. Roch, Vienna, Baroque parish church in Penzing, Vienna, Austria
The Chapel of St. Roch is a Catholic chapel at Penzinger Straße 70 in Penzing, Vienna. Its high Classicist facade ends in large volutes above the cornice, with a clock in the gable and a ridge turret capped by a tin bonnet. Above the entrance is a mural of St. Roch. The interior, relatively high for its length, is a Greek cross set within a closed rectangle, so the exterior gives no hint of the layout inside.
The structure was built in 1660 under master builder Georg Gerstenbrand and priest Georg Einwang. It was destroyed during the 1683 Turkish siege but was then reconstructed, ultimately shaping it into the building visitors see today.
The chapel is dedicated to both plague saints, Roch and Sebastian, and a mural of St. Roch stands above the entrance. Since 1995 it has hosted the Vienna parish of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, which belongs to the Ordinariate for Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Austria, while remaining part of the Roman Catholic Parish Penzing St. Jakob.
The chapel is located on Penzinger Street in Vienna's western district and is protected as a historical monument. Visitors should note that it functions as an active place of worship, so access may be limited to specific times or days.
In 1912, Adolf Hitler painted the chapel, then already a well-known local landmark on Penzinger Straße. The high altar, dating from 1739, is painted throughout except for the tabernacle and the crucifix. Above it, the eye of God appears in a golden halo.
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