Guia de San Roque

The city was founded on August 16, 1657 by noble captain Paulo Pedro Vaz de Barros, also known as Guaçu Vaz, The Great. The city was named São Roque due to his devotion for this holy founder. Attracted by the region, settled with his family and around 1,200 Indians margins of streams and Carambeí Aracaí, beginning thus to cultivate wheat and grapes.

Later, Italian and Portuguese immigrants covered the hillsides with vineyards, wineries and settled their San Roque became the famous “Land of Wine”. In 1681, Ferdinand Paes de Barros, brother of the founder, built the Great House and the Chapel of Saint Anthony, in rammed earth, coming to this parade and serve as a lodge dos Bandeirantes, who descended the Tietê River in search of gold and emeralds. In 1832, São Roque was elevated to the status of town and, in 1864, the category of municipality. And in 1990, due to its great potential scenario in historical, artistic, ecological and cultural, was converted into Tourist Resort. With a great mountain climate, beautiful landscapes and hospitable people, San Roque has an excellent hotel infrastructure, good restaurants, a large trade and tastiest wines. At only 60 km from São Paulo and served by two major highways – Castelo Branco and Raposo Tavares – San Roque offers visitors leisure options with lots of fresh air and tranquility.

The Patron
São Roque (1295 AD – 1327 AD) is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, protects against swine and is patron of invalid and surgeons. It is also considered by some Catholic communities as protector of cattle against contagious diseases. Its popularity due to the intercession against the plague, which is great patron of multiple communities throughout the Catholic world and patron saint of several professions allied to medicine, treatment of animals and their products and dogs. His feast is celebrated on 16 August.

There are no great certainty about the life of St. Roque, remaining the most of their bibliographic data involved in mystery. Even his true name is unknown, since Roch (aportuguesado for Roque) would your family name and not the name of baptism (according to documents from the twelfth century). Although there is considerable variation in the dates given for his birth and death, Roque was born in Montpellier, France, circa 1350, and died in the same city in 1379. It is known, however, that had died couple.

He was the son of a wealthy merchant named John, who had official roles in the city, and his wife Liberia. São Roque was linked to important families of Montpellier, being heir to a considerable fortune. Legend has it that Roque was born with a signal cross-shaped reddish skin of the chest, which predestinaria to holiness. Roque would have been no father and mother too young, being entrusted their education to an uncle. He studied medicine in his native city, but did not complete his studies. Taking very early an ascetic life and practicing charity towards the less fortunate, the coming of age, by age 20, decided to distribute all his possessions to the poor, leaving a small part entrusted to the uncle, and then starting in pilgrimage to Rome. During the trip, to reach the town of Acquapendente, near Viterbo, found it infested by the pest. Immediately offered himself as a volunteer in assisting the sick, working his first miracle cures, using only a scalpel and the sign of the cross. Then visited Cesena and other neighboring cities, Mantua, Modena, Parma, and many other towns and villages. Arose where an outbreak of plague, Roque was there helping and healing the sick, showing up increasingly as mystic and miracle worker.

After visiting Rome, where he prayed daily over the tomb of St. Peter and where he also cured plague victims, on the return trip to Montpellier, in reaching Piacenza, was himself infected by the disease, which prevented him from continuing his work assistance. Not to infect someone, isolated in the forest near that city, where, according to legend, would have starved if a dog does not bring him a daily bread and the land had not been born a source of water with which to kill thirst . The dog belonged to a wealthy man named Pollastrelli Gottardo, realizing that the miraculous presence of Roque, helped him, and he converted to amend his evil life. Miraculously cured, he returned to Montpellier, but was soon arrested and brought before the governor..

Roque was considered a spy and spent a few years in prison to die, abandoned and forgotten by all but conferred after death, which was marked by the cross on the chest. Although there is no consensus on the location of the event, it seems certain that he died in prison after a long period of incarceration. Discovering the cross on his chest, the fame of his holiness spread rapidly throughout the south of France and northern Italy, and numerous miracles attributed to him. Came to be invoked in cases of epidemic, popularizing itself as the protector of plague and pestilence.

The first posthumous miracle attributed to it was the healing of his jailer, who chamavaa Justin and limping. When playing with the leg in the body of Roque, to check if he was really dead, the leg was miraculously cured. Although no evidence to substantiate the states that Roque have belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis. San Roque is usually represented in pilgrim costumes, sometimes with the typical garb of pilgrims of Compostela, and with a long rod which hangs a gourd. One of the knees is usually shown naked, with a visible wound (bubo plague). It is sometimes accompanied by a dog, which appears beside her bringing her mouth bread.