East–West Street
Rue de l'Évêché
Also known as: Bishop's Lane
Named after: The Évêché (bishop's palace), seat of the Catholic Diocese of Pondicherry
Welcome to Rue de l'Évêché, one of the smallest streets in the White Town. Évêché means bishop's palace in French. This short lane takes its name from the Catholic bishopric of Pondicherry, whose roots go back to the MEP missionaries who arrived here in the 1670s, almost as early as the French themselves.
The Missions Étrangères de Paris established the Catholic mission in Pondicherry from the early years of the French settlement, arriving in 1674 alongside the first French traders. For three centuries the MEP maintained the Church's presence in French India: building churches, running schools, burying the dead in the cathedral cemetery on Rue Dumas, and in time establishing the episcopal hierarchy that this street commemorates.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry was created in 1776, giving the territory its own bishop. It was elevated to a full diocese in 1886. The évêché, the bishop's palace and administrative seat, gave its name to this lane, which sits between the canal and Rue Victor Simonnel in the quieter western edge of the White Town grid.
It is a small street. Not every street in a colonial city is named after a battle or a governor. Some are named for the institutions that held the fabric of daily life together: the company, the church, the bishop's house at the end of a quiet lane.
Notable on this street
- Évêché means bishop's palace. The street is named after the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Pondicherry.
- The MEP (Missions Étrangères de Paris) arrived in Pondicherry in 1674, the same year as the first French settlement. The Church and the Company built this city together.
- The Apostolic Vicariate of Pondicherry was created in 1776. The diocese was elevated in 1886. Three hundred years of Catholic episcopal history in one small street name.
- One of the smallest streets in the White Town, tucked between the canal and Rue Victor Simonnel. The name is bigger than the street.
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