Piazza San Rocco is the heart of the village of the same name, an ancient Friulian-speaking enclave in the city of Gorizia, which was part of the Austrian Empire until November 1918. In the background is the church, whose original nucleus dates back to the 15th century, with an eclectic neoclassical façade designed in 1898 by Giovanni Brisco. Inside, the church houses the 1838 altarpiece of the Christian martyr Saint Philomena, donated by the Bourbon royal family, refugees in Gorizia after the second French Revolution of 1830. Venerated since 1802, Philomena's name was removed from the liturgical calendar following doubts about her actual existence.

The monumental Sezessionstil (Viennese Secession) fountain in Borc San Roc was built with municipal funds and popular subscription and inaugurated with the civic band on April 25, 1909. Sculpted by Francesco Podbersig, its shape is based on drawings donated by Antonio Basciac (1856-1946), a native of Borgo from a Slovenian family who had moved from the Soča Valley. He emigrated to Egypt in 1882 and enjoyed a brilliant career overseas, being appointed Chief Architect of the Royal Palaces in 1907 by the last Khedive of Egypt, Abdas Hilmi II, for whom, among other things, he rebuilt the Abdine Palace in Cairo.