Our Lady of Angels Church, Puducherry

Our Lady of Angels Church, also known as Église Notre-Dame des Anges, the White Chapel or Kaps Koil, ranks as Puducherry's fourth oldest church. Its Greco-Roman building of 1855, designed by Louis Guerre, is attributed to Napoleon III and is believed to take its cue from the Lourdes basilica and Notre-Dame de Paris. It stands on Dumas Street in White Town, hence the local name Dumas Church, and faces east over the Bay of Bengal. The name Kaps Koil recalls its Capuchin founders; the Foreign Mission Fathers of Paris took charge in 1887.

The walls were once painted white inside and out with a mix of paint, egg and limestone. Two pillars beside the main chapel once held clocks that struck every two hours with the Ave Maria. A Holy Cross now stands at the altar, a statue of Joan of Arc was given by the mayor in 1919, and the twin towers have red, blue and yellow stained glass. Mass is said in French, Tamil and English.