Calle San Roque, one of the oldest streets in Alcantarilla, is the natural route that crosses the slope leading to the church of the Saint, protector of the plague epidemics. At the end of the street stands the hermitage, built in the 18th century, on the outskirts of the town, on a hill located to the northwest of the town.
Its location in the upper part of the town was the reason why in 1945, the municipal corporation agreed to move the public clock to the San Roque neighbourhood, after the demolition of the old town hall, and it was first installed in a tower in the Plaza del Aire. But in 1953, the urban growth of the square and its surroundings reduced the sound and visibility, so it was moved to the bell tower of the hermitage with its original metal frame to house the bells, until 2009, when the metal turret was removed when the church was restored.
In the 1960s, the street was made up of traditional houses with one or two floors and interior courtyards, which were even used for animal husbandry, such as the houses in front of the hermitage where the goats of “Perete” or the dairy farm of “la Perdigona” were kept. A street of commercial activity with small shops, such as the “Monete” bakery founded by Antonio Ortiz Manzanera in 1924, the groceries of Pepito “el Calero” or the florist’s shop of Lola and Pedro.
The hermitage is the backbone of the populous San Roque neighborhood, where the oldest festivities in the town are held every August.
In 1969, the hermitage of San Roque became a parish church, becoming the third parish church in Alcantarilla.
