Aware of Gangolli's rapid development in recent times, during the reign of Virabhadra Nayaka(1629–1645) the Portuguese captured Gangolli in 1629 under the command of Miguel de Noronha, 4th Count of Linhares. He built a fort at the mouth of the estuary in Gangolli and dedicated it to St. Michael (Michael (archangel)). He also commissioned the building of a small but proper church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Upon the completion of this church in 1630, the old prayer hall on the Bunder was razed to the ground and the new church was re-dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.