Nossa Senhora das Neves Church

 Nossa Senhora das Neves Church

Founded: 1576Â Â Â Â Feast: Sunday after 5th August

History: The church of Our Lady of Snows of Rachol, founded in 1576, was the first one in Salcete. It can thus be called the Mother Church of the whole of Salcete. Before that there was a little chapel inside the fort of Rachol, where the Jesuits, who settled there in 1556, would celebrate Mass. The church was later rebuilt in stone in 1596.

Architectural notes:

• Mannerist Neo-Roman style
• Large size, 5 bays x 3 storeys
• Sequence of Arch-Rectangle-Oculus-Niche
• Niched front of Rococo curves, large oculus
• Ornate Rococo moulding for central window
• Single bell tower with tiled roof
• Finials of ball-and-spear type
• Porch with corrugated sheet roof