the goan I networkPANAJIThe 450-year-old Church of Santa Monica that has been under restoration for several years is all set to be opened to the public on June 10. The church, which is part of the convent of Santa Monica that is Asia s first and largest convent and is a state protected monument, was restored by the Museum of Christian Art, Goa (MOCA) with financial assistance from the Directorate of Archives and Archaeology, Government of Goa. Speaking about the restoration work, MOCA curator Natasha Fernandes said, “This beautiful church with its exquisite altars, pulpit, miraculous crucifix, statues, paintings and art objects was in desperate need of repair and restoration, and preservation for posterity. The Archdiocese through the Museum of Christian Art sought the technical assistance of conservation architect, Ketak Nachinolkar and two internationally recognised art restorers, late Miguel Mateus and Jose Pestana of Portugal, to carry out an in-depth study of the state of the church building, its altars, pulpit, statues, and paintings, the extent of deterioration and to draw up a comprehensive restoration project proposal.” The State government on its part provided a grant of `1.3 crore in two phases with the work being entrusted to the conservation architect and the two expert art restorers and their teams. Restoration work on the building involved complete removal of the cement plaster from the walls, both internally and externally, and its replacement with the original mud and lime plaster, rebuilding the entire roof whose members were severely damaged and the removal of the damaged red cement flooring to reveal the original stone flooring. Several new works were also revealed during the process of the restoration. Fernandes said that the removal of the much damaged wooden pulpit revealed the original beautiful carved stone pulpit and the graffito work which surrounded it. “The altars needed extensive work as much of the wood work had decayed either due to ingress of moisture or attacked by termites. The statues and paintings all needed a great deal of attention. Original graffito was discovered under layers of lime wash and these have been restored,” she said. The church will now be open to worshippers for veneration at the Miraculous Cross, popularly known as the Weeping Cross, and to visitors to appreciate the artistic and architectural beauty of the church. The church will also be the venue for sacred music concerts and for temporary art exhibitions organized by the Museum of Christian Art.
NEW LEASE OF LIFE
The Archdiocese through the Museum of Christian Art sought technical assistance of conservation architect, Ketak Nachinolkar and two internationally recognised art restorers, late Miguel Mateus and Jose Pestana of Portugal for the project State government provided grant of `1.3 crore in two phases Restoration work involved removal of cement plaster from the walls, its replacement with original mud and lime plaster, rebuilding the entire roof, and removal of the damaged red cement flooring to reveal the original stone flooring
