The church was supposed to serve Morcote’s eastern side. Master Arturo Maspoli designed it, and it was built between 1548 and 1553; the plague scoured the land at the time, and so it was dedicated to Saint Rocco, patron of the plagued. The whole population contributed to building the three naves and three altars. The main elements on the largest altar are paintings from 1787, attributed to painters from the Isella and Dubini line. The marble altar by sculptor Tiravanti on the left is from 1902 and dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus, while the right altar’s stuccos are a Massari design from 1797, restored in 1954 by local stucco craftsman Amleto Isella. The stone balustrade of the largest altar and the holy water stoup have been in the church since 1786 following the main church’s transformation. The tile floor was restored in 1928; then, between 1954 and 1955, the entire church underwent restoration at the hands of architect Raul Casella. Adriano Antonini, a local potter and artist, created tiles for the Church of Saint Rocco representing the 14 Stations of the Cross and donated them to the community and the tourists who flock to the village every year. On 12 December 2015, the Morcote Monument Restorer Association, the church, and the municipality fulfilled Adriano Antonini’s dream of having his work exhibited within the church. Architects Mariella Malacrida and Catarina Hörtig oversaw the tile placement and, as Claudia Fabrizio said, to highlight the harmony of the work with the walls, they chose an etched sheet metal support: its shine riven by rusty tones is an inevitable reference to the flow of time.
