St. Mary’s Church, Negombo
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The St. Mary's Church, Negombo is landmark edifice, a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church in the heart of Negombo. It is one of the largest cathedrals in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.


Location

St. Mary's Church is located in the Grand Street in the centre of Negombo.


History

Negombo has been influenced greatly by the Christian faith from the time it was occupied by the Portuguese. It is often called "Little Rome" in view of the large number of churches in the city. Construction of the church was started in 1874 and completed, after a long gap, in 1922. The art and architecture of this church and a few similar other churches in Sri Lanka demonstrate the cultural amalgamation of the European practice with Sri Lankan art and architecture during the early years of the 20th century.


Features

The church was built in
neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
style with columns and plain walls. Its ceilings are painted with alabaster images of many saints. The walls at the upper level are fixed with sculptures of religious saints. The unique paintings on the life of Christ on the ceiling were done by the N.S. Godamanne, a local Buddhist painter. The beauty of the paintings on the nave is described as "thunderous". A testator paid the cost of one of the
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
s, which was imported from Europe.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Mary's Church, Negombo Roman Catholic churches in Sri Lanka Tourist attractions in Western Province, Sri Lanka Churches in Negombo Roman Catholic churches completed in 1924 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings