Bandel Church

One of the oldest Christian Churches in West Bengal is the Bandel Church, it stand as one of theprime feature of the Portuguese settlement in West Bengal. The Bandel Church was built around 1660, to dedicate Nossa Senhora de Rosario,who is also known as Our Lady of Rosary.It can be said that in West Bengal, the Bandel Church is one of the most prominent Among all other churches.

Bandel Church

The history says that that almost around 16th century, the Portuguese used Bandel as a port. It is said that Mughal emperor Akbar had given them a permission to built a town in Hooghly, that was around 1571. As they have settled their priest have started to baptize the natives there, it is said that arounf 1598, in Hooghly, the number of Catholics were almost five thousand which included natives and other mixed races.

The Portuguese has built a port and a fort on the banks of the river Hooghly, in the year 1579, and they also listed the service of a band called Augustinian Friars, which was a largest religious body in Goa at that time.the very nest year Captain Pedro Tavares got the full permission from the Mughal emperor, to peach Christianity open publicly and to construct churches, thus The Bandel Church began to construct in the year 1599.

But the old church was burnt down by the Moors during the sacking of Hooghly in the year 1632, the new church was built by Gomez de Soto over the ruin one in 1660.