Kolkata, as we all know it, is a hub of different cultures. The buildings, roads, lanes, monuments each and everything bear some kind of cultural dimensions. As we are aware of those buildings and offices were built when Kolkata was known as ‘Calcutta’ and served as the capital of British India. But this city bears its root to the west even before it was accustomed to British culture. If you go to the Kalighat tram depot, you can witness the building that we are talking about now, the Greek Orthodox church, which is located just beside the tram depot.

This church somehow resembles a temple to some extent with the columns in the portico. Haji Argyree, a Greek merchant of Calcutta in 1779 contributed a large amount of money for the construction of this building, and the rest was raised by crowdfunding. Even though it opened initially in the Amartala area in 1781 but later in 1925 it was shifted near Kalighat temple, where it is currently located. This place served great importance for the Greek residents of this city.

Currently, the condition of this church has degraded. The lack of governance by the authorities may be a reason, but at the same time, we can’t deny our negligence as well. With the establishment of new buildings at regular intervals, these old buildings somehow don’t get enough importance from us as it deserves. We feel proud of the amalgamation of different cultures here and our efforts to preserve them. Maybe if we remain silent for long, one day we can see a new apartment standing in the place of this church, and Kolkata will surely lose a prominent ‘identity’ of her.