The Church of Christ, commonly known as Schwartz Church after the Danish missionary Christian Friedrich Schwartz who founded it in 1779, is one of the oldest Protestant churches in Tamil Nadu. Schwartz arrived in Thanjavur under the auspices of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and spent decades in the city, becoming closely trusted by the Maratha court — unusually so for a foreign missionary in this period. The church was built under his supervision on land granted by the Thanjavur king.
The building is plain by European church standards — a simple white lime-plastered nave with a square bell tower and a small cemetery alongside. Inside, a marble relief commissioned by the Maratha ruler Serfoji II after Schwartz's death in 1798 shows the missionary on his deathbed surrounded by Indian converts and European colleagues. The inscription below was composed by Serfoji himself: "Firm wast thou, humble and wise, / Honest, pure, free from disguise." The church is still an active congregation.