Oratory of San Rocco

In Seggiano, outside Porta del Mercato, is the Oratory of San Rocco built by the community in 1486 to ward off one of the many plagues that afflicted the population. It is a typical country chapel with a single nave with a trussed roof up to the fence and a barrel vault in the presbytery. The facade is simply plastered, with a lunette above the entrance, but has two elegant Renaissance columns on the sides. The extreme modesty of the exterior contrasts with the interior entirely covered with frescoes. In fact, when construction was completed in 1490, the building was adorned with fresco paintings by the Sienese painter Girolamo di Domenico who completed them in 1493. The style is typical of Sienese painting of the late fifteenth century. A curiosity of the Oratory is represented by some ancient graffiti traced on the frescoes of considerable historical importance: in fact, they bring us back to the war in Siena as the one that testifies to the passage of the Spanish army “May 20, 1555, the Spanish imperial army passed through here”.