EnglishConvent and Church Of Saint Bonaventure
Erangal [Arengal], Mumbai Metropolitan Area (Bombay), India
Religious Architecture
The Franciscans apparently established themselves in the village of Arengal between 1554 and 1557 and Saint Bonaventure’s Church was founded in 1599. The rectory was later fortified, with capacity to house six soldiers. By around 1630 the convent counted the dependent villages of Mar, Maroa and Daroli. Two reasons justify the inclusion in this inventory of an entry referring to the remains of the Franciscan church and rectory in Arengal. The first is that it is the only church in the old Província do Norte outside of Vasai, Daman and Diu that was not subject to any irreversible modern architectural intervention up to 2007. The second reason is that it was a fortified church and convent. The church with its single nave and false transept was therefore entirely vaulted (the vault bases can still be seen in photos published in 1925) and was covered by a terrace that continued at the same height over the chancel. The latter is lower than the nave and maintains the barrel vault. North of the façade (facing the sea, whose shore begins just to the west) stand two of the four walls of a square tower that still bears a small 16th or early 17th century window. Five high windows from that same period are also found along the nave’s southern wall. To the north, the perimeter of the Franciscan rectory’s perimeter also remains, as well as part of the building to the east. This body is linked to the church chancel by a segmental-arched door, apparently characteristic of the oldest Catholic architecture in the north. In 2007 the complex presented an aspect of almost untouched age and austerity, otherwise very rare nowadays. The church and what’s left of the small convent are currently quite bare and in a poor condition: the walls are barely standing, the roof is not entire; only parts of the convent buildings are standing and no liturgical furniture remains. The church is covered by a metal roof, poor ceramic lining and inappropriate paintwork have begun to appear, but the building is nevertheless down to its ‘bare bones’.