Goa Churches: On your travel to Goa you can visit the churches in Goa which
are of permanent interest to the historians, the archaeologists, and the student of art and architecture, the tourist and indeed to every curious intellect. To begin with, the most visible legacy of the Portuguese is their churches, not only imposing monuments of old Goa but also more typically white- washed facades nestling among palm trees elsewhere.
On your India tour you can enjoy visiting the architectural churches known for their intricate designs. Most of the churches in Goa display a tiered frontispiece and are framed with columns and pilasters and were built in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Most important churches in Goa include Basilica of Bom Jesus and Goa Se Cathedral.
Travel Point India takes you on tour to Goa to let you explore the beautiful churches
of Goa.Visit the Church of St. Francis of Assisi and the chapel of St. Catherine, situated
in the west. This church in Goa is built of laterite blocks; it has a tower on either side of the façade. The chapel in the interior, having only one altar is plain. The Governor George Cabral, who put up an inscribed slab, enlarged the earlier chapel in 1550. Thus the chapel was built on the spot where stood the gates of this city under the Muslim rule. Another famous name among the churches in Goa is Se Cathedral, it was built in purist Tuscan style and is staggering in proportions. In one chapel is kept the Cross of Miracles, said to grow in size & have healing properties. Heavily gilded central altars depict the martyrdom of Saint Catherine, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.
Goa History: The state of Goa has an ancient past. The famous Hindu legends tell us that Goa was built at the southernmost point of the island. The medieval Arabian geographers knew the state of Goa as Sindabur, or Sandabur, and the Portuguese as Velha Goa. The history of Goa tells us that at one time the state was ruled by the Kadamba dynasty and by Muslim invaders of the Deccan. It was then annexed by the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar and later conquered by the Bahmani dynasty, which founded Old Goa in 1440.With the subdivision of the Bahmani kingdom after 1482, Goa passed into the power of Yusuf 'Adil Khan, the Muslim king of Bijapur, who was its ruler when the Portuguese first reached India. The Portuguese under Afonso de Albuquerque attacked the city in March 1510. The city surrendered without a struggle, and Albuquerque entered it in triumph. Goa was the first territorial possession of the Portuguese in Asia. Albuquerque and his successors left almost untouched the customs and constitutions of the 30 village communities on the island. Goa became the capital of the whole Portuguese empire in the east. It was granted the same civic privileges as Lisbon, reaching the climax of its prosperity between 1575 and 1600. The appearance of the Dutch in Indian waters precipitated the decline of Goa. In 1603 and 1639 Dutch fleets blockaded the city, though never captured, and in 1635 it was ravaged by an epidemic. In 1683 a Mughal army saved it from capture by Maratha raiders, and in 1739 the whole territory was attacked by the same enemies and saved only by the unexpected arrival of a new viceroy with a fleet. The seat of the government was moved to Marmagao and in 1759 to Panjim or Panaji.
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