The Sacred Heart Church (, ; ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

heritage

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

situated at

Chandannagar Chandannagar (), also known by its former names Chandannagore and Chandernagor (), is a city in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is headquarter of the Chandannagore subdivision and is a part of the area covered by Ko ...

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsurah (' ...

of the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. It is under the Archdiocese of Calcutta, and it is a heritage site declared by the West Bengal Heritage Commission. The structure is an authentic expression of French architectural style in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

The Sacred Heart Church was inaugurated on 27 January 1884 by

Paul Goethals Paul-François-Marie Goethals, S.J. (11 November 1832, Kortrijk, Belgium – 4 July 1901, Calcutta, India), was a Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary in British India and the first Archbishop of Calcutta. Early years and Formation Paul-Franç ...

, the Archbishop of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Construction started in 1875, during the rule of the French East India Company in Chandannagar, and was completed in 1884 at the instance of Rev. M. Barthet, assisted by his brother Joachim. It was designed by

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

architect Jacques Duchatz.

References

External links

* {{coord, 22.8574, 88.3681, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Buildings and structures in Hooghly district Tourist attractions in Hooghly district Churches in West Bengal 1884 establishments in the French colonial empire Churches completed in 1884 Chandannagar