Monte Mariano Church, Farangipet

Monte Mariano Church, which Pietro Della Valle called the Church of St Francis of Assisi, stands at Farangipet in Mangaluru on the banks of the Netravati. The Portuguese built it in 1568, and the Italian traveller wrote of it after visiting Mangalore in 1623. Its official name, Monte Mariano, means Mount of Mary.

This is where Monti Fest, the Feast of Our Lady of the Mount, began: Fr Joachim Miranda, a Goan priest here, started the harvest festival in 1763, and it is now held every year on 8 September, the feast of Mary's Nativity. The chapel's statue of the infant Mary was brought from Italy by a family from Nelyadi. Tipu Sultan, who destroyed the churches of Canara, spared this one out of regard for his father Hyder Ali's friendship with Fr Miranda.