St. Philip Neri's Church (Colombo)

St. Philip Neri's Church, Colombo
Photo credit: Google Street View

St. Philip Neri's Church (Sinhala: සාන්ත පිලිප් නේරිස් කතෝලික දේවස්ථානය) is a Catholic church at No. 157, Olcott Mawatha in Colombo (Pettah), Sri Lanka.

The church is said to have been established in 1862 (Manathunga, 2016). However, the church building has been built on the site in 1906 (Manathunga, 2016). According to some sources, the present edifice was built at the site in 1858 by M.G.R. Bran who belonged to the Benedictine order, a Roman Catholic Church of the Benedictine order (Welandawe & Weerasinghe, 2016). A tombstone dated 15 August 1860 is found within the church premises  (Lewis, 1913).

The architecture of the building is in the neoclassical style with Palladian detail (Welandawe & Weerasinghe, 2016).

References
1) Lewis, J. P., 1913. List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest with an obituary of persons uncommemorated: Colombo. p.135.
2) Manathunga, S. B., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Kolamba Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-39-9. pp.72-73. 
3) Welandawe, H., Weerasinghe, J., 2016. Urban Heritage in the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project. p.77.

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This page was last updated on 27 August 2022
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