Old Goa Travel Guide: The Churches of the Portuguese Capital

Old Goa, or Velha Goa, was the Portuguese capital until the mid-18th century; after a series of epidemics the viceroy moved his residence to Panaji in 1759. Its cathedrals, churches and convents, spread along about 1.5 km, were inscribed as the Churches and Convents of Goa World Heritage Site in 1986. The Archaeological Survey of India names the Sé Cathedral, the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the Church and Convent of St Francis of Assisi, the Church of St Cajetan, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Chapel of St Catherine and the Church of St Augustine, all built in the 16th and 17th centuries. These are still places of worship, so see the tips below before you go.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus

The basilica holds the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier, in a silver casket in the chapel on the south side of the transept. The Jesuits built it around the turn of the 17th century, with a bare, un-plastered front, and Pope Pius XII gave it the status of a basilica in 1946. Inside, look for the gilded main altar and, up a stair near the sacristy, a modern art gallery of 36 Biblical paintings made in the 1970s. Masses are held daily in Konkani and English, and GTDC lists viewing hours outside them.

The Sé Cathedral

Standing on the great square, the Sé is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Goa, dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria. Construction began in 1562, to commemorate Afonso de Albuquerque's victory on her feast day, and the main altars were finished in 1652. Look for the gilded reredos of six panels showing St Catherine's life, the Chapel of the Cross of Miracles, the baptismal font used by St Francis Xavier, and the Golden Bell in the tower, which Incredible India calls the biggest in Goa.

The Church and Convent of St Francis of Assisi

Franciscan monks landed in 1517 and finished a first chapel in 1521. The present church dates from 1665 and keeps the Manueline portal of the older building, between two octagonal towers, a specimen of that style that GTDC calls unique in the country. Its interior is lavishly baroque, with floral frescoes and wooden panels painted with the life of St Francis. The convent beside it is now the Archaeological Museum, in eight galleries, with portraits of the viceroys and governors of Goa and fragments of sculpture from Hindu temple sites.

The Church of St Cajetan

Italian monks of the Theatine order built St Cajetan's in 1665, and ASI says it is modelled on the original design of St Peter's in Rome. A hemispherical dome rises above a Corinthian façade with twin quadrangular belfry towers, and the verse around the cupola is Matthew 6:33 in Latin. The church was first dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence.

The Holy Hill: Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of the Mount

The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary stands on Monte Santo, the Holy Hill. GTDC calls it one of the few buildings in Goa that show the Renaissance architecture the Portuguese brought, and an inscription records Albuquerque's conquest of 1510. Inside are the tombstone of the governor Garcia de Sá and the cenotaph of his wife, Dona Catarina. Nearby, the whitewashed Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount overlooks the Mandovi and the islands of Divar and Chorão, and Incredible India suggests ending a walk through Old Goa here.

The Convent of Santa Monica and the Museum of Christian Art

The convent, the first nunnery in the East, was sanctioned in 1598 and completed in 1627, built like a fortress with massive buttresses. It now holds the Museum of Christian Art, whose vestments, chalices, carved ivory, paintings and statues were largely made by local artists, many of them Hindu. A chapel keeps the Miraculous, or Weeping, Cross. GTDC lists the museum open every day, from 9.30 am to 5 pm.

The ruins of the Church of St Augustine

Only one of the four towers of the Augustinian church of Our Lady of Grace still stands: four storeys of laterite, built as a belfry. Work on the church began in 1597 and ended around 1602, and GTDC says it was perhaps the biggest church in Goa before its vault fell. Its bell was moved first to Fort Aguada and then to the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Panjim, which our Panjim travel guide describes.

The Viceroy's Arch

At the old entrance from the ferry wharf, the arch was built by Francisco da Gama, the grandson of Vasco da Gama, who became viceroy in 1597, and the Portuguese viceroys once entered the city through it. The side facing the river carries a deer on Vasco da Gama's coat of arms, and the other side a statue of St Catherine.