English
Church of Our Lady of Mercy
Colvá, Goa, India
Religious Architecture
The Church of Our Lady of Mercy was built between 1630 and 1635. It is distinguished from other similar churches with single long narrow naves, tile roofs and barrel-vaulted chancels only in that it has a very formally elaborate main façade. This west-facing façade is of the Bom Jesus type, like others in Salcette. From the typological standpoint, it presents the usual three sections and two orders, with a third one in the central section linked to the laterals by ‘wings’. But crowning the second order and separating it from the cornice (or from the third order in the central section) runs a sort of long squat frieze, articulated by pilaster shafts and half-chakras or compressed domes appropriate for shell niches. The wings on either side of the central section are equally elaborate. The façade’s second order is in turn articulated by pilasters, columns and windows with triangular pediments. The church has a single tower on the south side, protecting a lateral gallery. The parish buildings on the north side have disappeared, replaced by a modern building.