San Rocco Church

Affectionately known as la Cappellina, the Church of San Rocco is the oldest surviving monument still visible in Turi today. Its early Romanesque architecture, with Byzantine influences, dates its construction to between the 11th and 12th centuries.

The building was erected to protect the Lacum Thuri, an ancient floodplain outside the town walls, once known as the “area of waters and wells”. The small church stood along the route connecting the town to its wells, reflecting its role as a spiritual guardian of places that were essential to the life of the community.

A rare example of a church with two domes aligned along the same axis, San Rocco has a single rectangular nave divided into two spaces, each covered by a small hemispherical dome. The exterior, built from regular blocks of local stone, is distinguished by a double sawtooth cornice, the only decorative feature of an otherwise simple yet elegant architectural design.

The roof structure, also visible from the outside, features two drums topped by square-based pyramidal roofs clad in traditional chiancarelle stone tiles, recalling the distinctive form of Puglia’s trulli. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, a small bell gable was added, while in 1505 an inscription dedicating the church to Saint Roch, traditionally invoked as a protector against disease, was carved into the lintel, giving the church its present name.

Today, the Cappellina di San Rocco is a precious reminder of Turi’s medieval origins, a place of silence and devotion that preserves the timeless charm of Puglia’s earliest sacred architecture.