Church Of Our Lady Of Grace

Papdi, Mumbai Metropolitan Area (Bombay), India

Religious Architecture

The church was apparently founded by the Jesuits in 1565 and rebuilt in 1597 after the Morro de Chaul Fort war. In 1998 it was raised to the dignified status of cathedral of the new diocese of Vasai. Our Lady of Grace is a single-naved church with a wooden and tiled roof. We do not know if the ceiling visible above the chancel hides the presence of a vault. A large side nave was recently opened to the left of the chancel. The main façade, facing east toward a rather large open ground, is characteristic of northern churches: its basic structure is certainly late 16th or early 17th century, but the adornment is 19th century. The façade is divided into three parts, with three orders in the central section and two in the side ones. The ground floor bays are the originals. On the upper level they were modernised in Gothic style; the mod- ernisation extended to all the façade frames, which rather eclectic, especially the gable with its chakra-type rose windows used as crowning element (a form we only see in the Província do Norte), a pointed central arch and an undulating cornice. All this is visible in a photo published in 1925. If the tradition whereby the church was not destroyed by the Marathas after 1739 and that nothing else happened later is confirmed, then it is possible that the cross in the open space in front as well as the high altar, laterals and pulpit inside, which all appear to be 18th century, were effectively made for their current sites. Immediately north of the church and its parochial buildings is a vestigial part of a neighbourhood with many houses from the early 20th century or perhaps a bit earlier. It is inhabited by Catholics and as occurs throughout India is known as a village.

• Paulo Varela Gomes