San Rocco, Renaissance church in western historical center, Vicenza, Italy

San Rocco is a Renaissance church begun in 1485, built almost against Vicenza's Scaliger walls on Contra' Mure San Rocco. It was lengthened eastward and given a new facade around 1530. A contemporary document names an "excellent architect", possibly Lorenzo da Bologna. Coats of arms painted in the apse basin, beside the city emblem, recall the families who funded it.

Construction began in 1485 by decision of Vicenza's municipal council, probably as a civic vow during a plague, on the site of an oratory dedicated to Saint Roch. It was funded by 100 ducats from the commune, fines on butchers breaking health rules and private legacies. Around 1530 the church was extended eastwards and a new facade built.

The coats of arms painted on the apse basin, flanking the city emblem, recall the Vicentine families whose legacies and donations funded the church. The Carmelite nuns who settled here in 1670 furnished it with fine artworks and furnishings. The church was stripped of several works under Napoleonic requisition, and these ended up in public museums.

The building sits in the western part of the historical center and is accessible by public transportation. Visitors should check when religious services take place to find the best times for exploring the interior.

The church was begun in 1485 with 100 ducats from the city council, and further funded by fines imposed on butchers who broke sanitary rules. Coats of arms of the donor families are painted in the apse basin beside the city's own emblem, and their funeral inscriptions remain in the church.