Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Tiruchirappalli

Our Lady of Lourdes Church stands opposite the Main Guard Gate in Tiruchirappalli, near the Rock Fort, on the campus of St. Joseph's College's higher secondary school. Its foundation was laid in 1895 and it opened to the public in 1903, on ground that was once part of the moat around the city's fort. The Jesuits look after it, under the Diocese of Tiruchirapalli, and a study by NIT Tiruchirappalli treats it as an example of a Gothic church raised entirely with local materials and craftsmen.

The church follows a Gallo-Catholic, neo-Gothic design and is painted white and maroon. Its main tower is 220 ft tall, with smaller towers of 120 ft and some 120 turrets, and statues of St. John de Britto, St. Francis Xavier, St. Ignatius and the Sacred Heart stand at the centre of the tower. Inside are paintings of crucifixion and martyrdom, windows showing episodes from the life of Jesus, and a sandalwood altar.