Portuguese Church, George Town, Chennai
Portuguese Church is one of the oldest churches in George
Town area of Chennai, the capital of the South
Indian state of Tamil
Nadu. This Church is situated far from the celebrated areas
of George Town. This Church is located behind garbage dumps in the busy street
of Broadway. The Church has its origins in 1640. The Catholic church, ‘Our Lady
of Assumption’, has its roots in a church built within Fort St. George by Fr.
Andrew of the Capuchins in 1640.
The story goes that over a century later, after the
French invasion of the Fort, the Portuguese and their church were evicted by
the British for supposedly plotting with the French. In 1749, the church was
rebuilt in the Portuguese neighbourhood on today’s Portuguese Church Street,
with a tablet at its roof that read 1640. The Tamils around though, remember it
as ‘Mathura Nayagi’, a moniker for Mary. It stood its ground until 1993, when
it was razed to be replaced with the present swanky structure.
The Church is located at about 500
meters from Mannady Police Quarters Bus Stop, 700 meters from Mannady Metro
Station, 3 Kms from Chennai Central Railway Station, 5 Kms from Egmore Railway
Station, 14 Kms from Koyambedu Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus and 21 Kms from
Chennai Airport. The Church is located very close to the Mannady Metro Station.
You can proceed on foot to the church from the station. From other parts of the
city, you can take a Cabs, Auto Rickshaw, Bus, Local Trains and Metro Trains to
reach the Church.
Location