Probably the church due its name to
some basins for fish-farm, which were within the structure of
the Caio Passieno Crispo's villa, the second husband of
Agrippina. It is one of the most ancient construction (9th century)
of the village ‘Frascata' and probably in the past
it was the cathedral. This church was restored and widened by
the cardinal d'Estouteville; it has the typical form of
a basilica, with a nave and two aisles and a belfry built in 1305,
decorated by two aediculas.
According to a legend, a morning of the year 1656, when the city
of Rome was flagellated by the plague, the plaster of the façade
fell, bringing to light two images, that of S. Rocco and that
of S. Sebastiano, both patron saints of Frascati, which rescued
the town from the plague's danger; thus the church, the
adjacent square and the nearby quarter were consecrated to S.
Rocco.
Thanks to some recent restoration works the church has reacquired
its simple Roman style. It consists of 14 spur stone columns,
and an apsidal bowl-shaped vault with a fresco representing
the coronation of Maria, by artists of Roman school.
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