Rosario Church

20 December 2006

In Tulu it is called "Poyyeda Ingreji", meaning sand church. Unlike a sand castle, it has survived for over four centuries in its different avatars, starting as " Factory Church" and now high-domed landmark of Mangalore, designated as Cathedral for the last 146 years.
Cathedra, for the uninitiated, is the seat or throne of a Bishop in the principal church ( Cathedral ) of the diocese. Rosario Cathedral, originally titled, before it was declared as Cathedral in 1850, The Church of Our Lady of Holy Rosary, is situated off the north bank of Netravati river at Bolar.
The history of Rosario Cathedral goes back to Alphonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese explorer, who conquered Goa and remained Viceroy of the Indies from 1510 to 1515. The Portuguese, under Diego de Silveira, attacked and occupied Mangalore in 1658. They built a fort called "Port of St. Antony" at the place where DC’s office at Bunder now stands.
(courtesy daijiworld.com)