Eglise Saint-Roch, Montpellier

This church was reconstructed on the site of the church of St-Paul which was destroyed in 1568 and then again in 1622 during the religious wars. The current building is actually the result of an unaccomplished 19th-century plan to construct a much bigger church. Despite the completion of the initial works, the project was abandoned for financial reasons, leaving the squat, oddly proportioned neo-gothic church one sees today. Since the 17th Century the church has been dedicated to the cult of Saint-Roch, a 14th-century son of a rich merchant family who abandoned his inheritance to become a pilgrim. Nursing and healing victims of the plague along the way, his path eventually led him to Rome. Returning from the holy city he fell victim to the plague himself but survived after fleeing into a forest, only to be later accused of being a spy and arrested. He died after five years of imprisonment. In 1629 the pope Urban VIII recognized this cult and Saint-Roch's specia l protection against epidemics. A 19th-century statue of the saint, accompanied by the dog who supplied him with food during his sickness, and other relics of the saint can be found within the church. An annual pilgrimage is celebrated each year at the church on August 16.