Heritage Church Trails

 Luz Church or Our Lady of Light . This church is celebrating 500 years this year. It was built in 1516 as per a tablet in the church walls. After the fall of Constantinople in 1451 the Europeans wanted to find a sea route to India since they needed the spices. The Portuguese were in the forefront and many voyages were made to find a sea route around Cape of Good Hope. Ultimately Vasco da Gama  reached Calicut in 1498. The Franciscan  missionaries used the sea route to reach India to spread the Gospel.  Five missionaries who were lost in the sea due to cyclone prayed mother mary. They saw a light in the sky and followed it. The light disappeared nearly 2 km from the sea near the  present church.  They built a church there as a thanks giving to God.  The church was called Nossa Senhora da Luz in Portuguese. The church suffered heavy damage during Golconda invasion in 1673 and during Hyder Ali invasion in 1782. It is also called Kattukoil in Tamil.

 The advent of Christianity in Santhome area started eith the arrival of Portugese in 16th century. This happened after Vaco da Gama found out the sea route to the spice country India.  By the year 1523 the Portugese constructed the old Santhome church over the place where St Thomas was supposed to have been buried in 1st century.  That old Church was pulled down in 1893 and present Santhome Cathedral was inaugurated in 1896.         Santhome had a good  concentration of Anglicans in the first half of 19th century outside Fort St George  and a church was required for their spiritual needs. Rev . Robert Carver  (1788-1845) was the  man behind the construction and consecration of St. Thomas English church  at Santhome in 1842. He went to  Ceylon in 1815 as part of Wesleyn Mission and was there upto 1824 after when he shifted to Madras  due to  his wife death in Jaffna.  He intially worked in Santhome under S.P...

 St.Ritas Chapel, Santhome.  This church is situated on Santhome High Road inside the campus of Santhome Higher Secondary School.  This nearly 300 year old Church is one of six churches situated within the Portuguese fort of Santhome. It was built by Armenians who were in good numbers in 18th century Madras. There are two inscriptions on the eastern wall of the church abetting the road.  One is in Armenian dated 1729 which says " In memory of  the Armenian Nation. In the year of the Saviour 1729". It is not in memory of any individual but of Armenian nation.  It was in this year that the  tomb of St . Thomas was opened in nearby  Santhome Cathedral  for  public view. Coja Petrus Uskan was present on the  occasion.  The  other  inscription is in Portuguese  which says " This church was finished anew in the year 1740 the  Vicar of it  being Friar Gaspar Dos Reis a native of Santhome ". I am not sure wheth...

 The  Churchyard of St Matthias Church, Vepery, Madras in 1860s. This  church was originally  a Catholic church called Our Lady of Miracles  and was private chapel of Coja Petrus Uscan.  After the death of Uscan in 1751 the  Church was taken over by SPCK the  Danish Protestant Mission. The  church was converted to a Protestant church and was repaired extensively in 1823.John Law was the architect  and Lady Munro took special interest in the renovation with contribution from EIC. The  Churchyard has the tombstones of Petrus  Uscan, J.P.Fabricius the German missionary and Great Tamil Scholar (whose English- Tamil dictionary of  1779 is the forerunner of Tamil Lexicon today)and Rev. Rottler in whose name a road is there in the  neighbourhood. A church with a rich heritage. Courtesy: Victoria &Albert

  St Matthias Church, Vepery.  This  was originally  a Catholic  church  called  Our Lady of Miracles and was the  private chapel of Coja Petrus Uscan the Armenian Merchant.  After the rendition of  Madras in 1749 the British  doubted the  Catholics of having supported French  and the  Catholic  chapel  inside the Fort was demolished. After the death of  Coja Petrus  Uscan in 1751 the  Vepery church  was taken over by the  SPCK the  Danish  Protestant  Mission.  The   church was converted into a Anglican  church  and  was repaired  extensively  and consecrated in 1823. The  Government also paid some money for the restoration.  The  tombstone of Uscan  is still in the  churchyard. Many of the  road  in Vepery like Hunters Road, Jeremiah Road,  Rotlers Street  are named after the Prebysters w...

A different view of St . Andrews Kirk  constructed by East India Company engineer  Thomas Fiot De Havilland  and info about its  consecration in March 1821 as published then.  It was a fine example of Scottish architecture.  The  Church was built for the religious purpose of the thriving  Scottish  community of Madras then.  It was built near the Egmore redoubt which was then the outpost of Madras.  The land was purchased for its low value and proximity to Fort St . George. The  land was marshy low land and was subject to sinking and flooding.  The  14 feet foundation of the Kirk sits on a bed of pottery and brick Wells 9 feet deep.  The  Wells were sunk into marshy sand by first weaving a wicker ring to sit under brick or pottery ring. The  walls of the well were  built  with specially made curved bricks or pottery rings cemented with watery mortar over it. The  foundation stone was laid...

       This was originally built in 1712 and renovated in 1772. The Armenians were a select group of merchants in the old  madras in 18th century.They dealt in silk ,spices and gems. They mostly lived in Coral Merchant st and their famous patron was Coja Petrus Uscan who built the Marmelong Bridge in 1726 and the steps leading  to St. Thomas mount. The graves of hundreds  of Armenian who lived in Madras are laid here. The church  has a famous  Bellfry tower  in which  six bells weighing  around  150 kg each installed in different years 1754, 1778 and 1837 are there. I felt like transported  to more than 200 yrs back in the church with its antique  furniture, madras terrace , eerie silence  in which  the devout pray and had a heavenly  experience.       Before the  church was constructed in 1712 the  Armenians  of Madras performed their divine service at a place  m...

 The  Santhome  Cathedral view from the grounds of residence of   Archbishop of  Madras Mylapore  constructed in early  1950s. After the Portuguese colonised Madras in 1523 the  first building activity  that they did was to  renovate the  " Old Sepulchre of St.Thomas and convert it into a chapel. The  Chapel was raised into a church  in 1536 and a portico was added due to increased congregation. The  tomb of St.Thomas  in this church  became a pilgrimage centre visited by the Thomas Christians of Kerala. Albert De Mandelslo a traveller who visited Mylapore in 1638 mentions about the church without a steeple. The  tomb of St.Thomas was opened on 29th  April 1729 to  distribute earth to pilgrims.  The  population of  Catholics  in Madras was around  47500 as per the data given by the Archdiocese of Madras in 1842. The  Portuguese built church was demolished in 1893 ...

 St George Cathedral. The Cathdral has completed 200 years. This is a beautiful  Georgia era church. After the fall of Tippu Sultan and annexation of Carnatic in the early decade of 19th century the British got the courage to come out of Fort St George. The Civilian and Military officials of East India Company  were allotted acres of land in the Great choultry Plain  on both sides of Mount Road  extending from Govt. Bridge in the north  to Cenotaph in Teynampet. They built palatial mansions and for their  religious services wanted to have a  church nearer to their place  since St Marys in the Fort was far off. The St George Cathedral was built of a lottery fund designed by James Lillyman Caldwell and built by Thomas De Havilland. It was opened for services  in April 1815 by formally consecrated on 6th January 1816 by Thomas Middleton the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta. Unfortunately the first burial in the church yard was that of De Havilla...

 St. Marys Church  Fort St George, Madras      This church is the oldest  Anglican  Church in India. Before the church was built the religious services were held in Factory House the first building built in the Fort. The construction of the church started in 1678 and was consecrated  on 28th October 1680 during the period of Strensham Master  who was agent of EIC. The architect was William Dixon Chief Gunner.  The walls and ceilings  of the church were bomb proof  thick that during the siege of Madras in 1758-59 it was used as a barrack and storehouse for granary.  The original building was a rectangular one built on laterite foundation of brick and chunam. Wood was used only for doors and windows . It was considered to be the Presidency Church  and later became the Garrison church serving  regiments in the Fort.  The old weathered and inscribed tombstones in the churchyard dating to early British era are ch...