English
Church of Saint Michael Archangel
Orlim, Goa, India
Religious Architecture
Saint Michael Archangel is one of Goa’s most characteristically distinct churches due to the form of its main façade. It was founded in 1568 and was one of the first Jesuit churches in Salcette. The current form of the church body and central façade section must largely correspond to the 1852 reconstruction following its destruction in the Cuncolim rebellion. But the main façade’s expression and proportions were decisively altered at an uncertain date in the 19th century by the construction of the single tower attached to the north side of the church. The façade’s central section is of the Bom Jesus type, with three sections and only two orders, three in the central part, linked to the sides by wing panels decorated with chakra-shells. As in other Goa churches (Carambolim, for example), the façade had lateral extensions covering galleries. The north extension (also as in Carambolim) was covered by a tower in the 19th century, but the latter was given a dome and lantern directly over the second floor, with no drum; it is very low and clearly lends a horizontal aspect to the whole façade. As in most Jesuit churches, Saint Michael’s has a single long wide nave covered with a tile roof, with no side chapels, and a barrel-vaulted chancel. The church is splendidly sited on a spit of land between rice fields and branches of the Sal River, with a village to the north and a large yard in front; the 19th century arrangement comprises a walled patio, cross and covered cemetery to the south.