The ''Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Neves'' (Church of Our Lady of the Snows) is a historical Catholic church in

Rachol Rachol is a village within an Ilha de Rachol, island of the same name in Salcete, Goa, in south-western India. It is located on the left bank of the Zuari River and is home to the famous Rachol Seminary. The famous Portuguese colonial Rachol F ...

village, Salcete sub-district, on the southern banks of the Zuari river, in the

South Goa district South Goa district is one of two districts that comprises the state of Goa, India, within the region known as the Konkan. It is bounded by North Goa district to the north, the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state to the east and south, while ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The church was built in the 1560's during the

Goa Inquisition The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...

. It is situated in close proximity to the renowned

Rachol Seminary The Rachol Seminary, also known today as Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in Rachol, Goa, India. Historical outline The edifice that presently houses the semin ...

. There is a church of the same name in the neighbouring village of

Raia (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...

History

The Colonial Portuguese

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

was originally built with mud walls and a thatched roof, alongside the fort of Rachol. The Captain of the Rachol fortress (in Portuguese ''Capitão desta Fortaleza de Rachol'')

Diogo Rodrigues Dom Diogo Rodrigues, Dom Diogo Roiz (; Lagos, Portugal – 21 April 1577; Colvá, Goa) was a Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean who sailed as an ordinary helmsmanAuguste Toussaint, ''History of the Indian Ocean'' (Chicago: University Pres ...

was appointed to carry out the work. It was completed in AD 1565 by destroying the temples at that site, including that of Kamakshi. Idol of

Kamakshi Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi m ...

, referred to as ''Āī'' (mother in Konkani), was moved to neighbouring village of Shiroda, across the Zuari river. The church was dedicated to ''Nossa Senhora das Neves'' (Our Lady of the Snows). It has been referred to as the "Mother church" (''Matriz'') for the whole of southern Goa and was named ''Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Neves''. It was the Seat of the first

Archbishop of Goa The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman ( la, Archidioecesis Goanae et Damanensis, gom, Gõy ani Damanv Mha-Dhormprant, pt, Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan r ...

, Dom Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira who personally visited

Margão Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population aft ...

and the surrounding areas to choose the location. Dom shot an arrow into the ground at Rachol and ordered the church to be built there. The church was considered to be the first in the

Salcette Salcete ( Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti''; pt, Salcette) is a sub-division of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal river and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Hist ...

'' concelho'' (Salcette was called ''Ilha de Salcette do Sul'' at that time). Two historical burials took place at the altar. The first burial was for the captain of the Fort (''Capitão desta Fortaleza'') Diogo Rodrigues in AD 1577. The second regards the massacre of

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priests and civilians that occurred in the Cuncolim Revolt in July 1583. The martyrs' bodies remained in the church until AD 1597, after which they were moved to

Saint Paul's College, Goa St. Paul's College was a Jesuit school, and later college, founded circa 1542 by saint Francis Xavier, at Old Goa. It was once the main Jesuit institution in the whole of Asia. It housed the first printing press in India, having published the first ...

and laid to rest in

Old Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

at the Cathedral in AD 1862.

References

{{coord, 15.30845, 74.01047, format=dms, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Colonial Goa Roman Catholic churches in Goa Roman Catholic churches completed in 1565 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India 1565 establishments in India 1560s establishments in Portuguese India Baroque church buildings in India Portuguese colonial architecture in India 1565 establishments in the Portuguese Empire Churches in South Goa district

History

See also

References