From the archive record
Looking out over the Bay of Bengal, with its frontage facing the rising sun, the church of Our Lady of Angels stands in the former Capuchins' square, surrounded by the streets Dumas, Surcouf and Romain Rolland. Between the church and the sea lies a little garden, in the middle of which stands a statue of Joan of Arc, armoured and carrying a battle standard. The statue and the garden bearing her name, were acquired and gifted by Francois Gaudart, politician and industrialist, shortly before his return to France in 1919. The statue was installed in April 1923. Established by the Capuchins, three other churches with the same name preceded the current one. Indeed, the first French cleric to settle down in Pondicherry, as early as 1674, belonged to the Capuchin order. A first church was built i