Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Immaculate Conception Cathedral is the cathedral mother church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. It is located in the Union territory of Puducherry. It is also called "Samba Kovil", it's a phonetic corruption of "Saint Paul’s Kovil" in which "Kovil" way church. The Jesuit Fathers came to the French colony of Pondicherry as missionaries in 1689. There they provided a totally huge lawn to the west of the French Fort. In the 1692 they, with the economic help of Louis XIV, king of France, erected a church which was demolished thru the Dutch within the following year. A 2nd Church modified into speedy built in 1699 but could not final lengthy.

From 1728 to 1736 a huge church changed into built on the website of the winning Cathedral. This 0.33 church became razed to the floor with the aid of the British in 1761 in the course of the Seven Years' War. Erecting in 1765 provisionally a sensible type of irregular fashioned shed wherein the Mission Press is now, for the purpose that year 1770 the Fathers were earnest in constructing the present cathedral on the foundations of the third Church. On 20 June 1791 the precept artwork changed into finished and the Church modified into consecrated thru Bishop Champenois. The Bell tower have become built later. The choir loft turned into introduced in 1905.