Goa is more than just a vacation destination. It’s an experience in itself and there’s something for everyone. Other than the many beaches and enthralling natural landscape, Goa also has, in abundance, cultural and architectural heritage that draws tourists from all over the world. Goa is also home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites that are hugely popular among tourists, both domestic and foreign.
A bunch of religious structures and monuments located in Old Goa or the more colloquial Velha Goa, collectively called the Churches and Convents of Goa, were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the year 1986. These structures were built by the Portuguese colonists between the 16th and 17th centuries during their rule in the region.
It is because of these shrines and monuments that Goa is also called the ‘Rome of the Orient’ and owing to their contribution in the dissemination of Western art forms in Asia, they have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
On the UNESCO website, it says: The churches and convents of Goa, the former capital of the Portuguese Indies, particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier, illustrate the evangelisation of Asia. These monuments were influential in spreading forms of Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art in all the countries of Asia where missions were established.’
Goa’s colonial past
Goa was part of the Maurya Empire in third century BC under Ashoka of Magadh when the Buddhist monks spread Buddhism in Goa. After that, Goa came to be ruled by the Bhojas of Goa, Chutus of Karwar, Satavahanas of Kolhapur, Western Kshatrapas, Abhiras of Western Maharashtra, Bhojas of the Yadav clans of Gujarat, Konkan Mauryas as feudatories of the Kalachurism, Chalukyas of Badami, Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, Southern Silharas of Konkan and for over a few centuries by the Kadambas as the feudatories of the Chalukyas of Kalyani who patronised Jainism in Goa.
Goa came under the Delhi Sultanate in 1312 and Harihara I of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1370 and later, in 1469, was appropriated by the Bahmani Sultans of Gulbarga. In was then taken over by the Adil Shahis of Bijapur who established Goa as a port on the banks of the Mandovi River in the 15th century. It was taken by Afonso de Albuquerque with the help of the Goan Hindu privateer Timoja in 1510 and remained continuously under the Portuguese rule until the twentieth century.
The first to convert to Christianity in Goa were the native women who married Portuguese men who arrived with Albuquerque during the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. Soon enough, Goa became the epicentre of the ‘Christianisation of the East’ where the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians, Theatines and other European Christian religious orders started to settle for conversion and spread of Christianity in India from sixteenth century onward. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are known as the ‘Golden Age of Goa’.
When the Portuguese rule began in Goa, in the first two centuries several churches and monasteries were erected and are reminiscent of the cultural exchange that took place during the colonial period in Goa reflecting the legacy of the Portuguese. The architectural forms in these structures follow the European canon – internal decoration of altars, altarpieces, paintings, etc. The construction was done by local artisans and labourers that eliminated the need to import European artists or African slave labour.
The golden period came to an end when, in the late seventeenth century, trade competition with the Dutch and British and several epidemics led to the economic decline of the city of Goa. In 1759, the Viceroy moved the seat of power to Panjim (Nova Goa) and Velha Goa (Old Goa) lost its capital status officially in 1843. In 1961, the 450-year-long Portuguese colonial rule came to an end and Goa became part of the republic of India.
Universal value of the structures
The ‘Churches and Convents of Goa’ that made it to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list is a serial property located in the former capital of the Portuguese Indies, Velha Goa, located on the west coast about ten km east of Panjim. There are seven monuments part of this list:
- The Chapel of St. Catherine (constructed in 1510) which was raised to the status of Cathedral by Pope Paul III in 1534;
- The Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi (built in 1517 and rebuilt in 1521 and then in 1661) embodying the motifs in Manueline, Gothic, and Baroque styles;
- The Church of Our Lady of Rosary (constructed in 1549) that happens to be the earliest of the existing churches built in the Manueline style in Velha Goa;
- Sé Cathedral (built in 1652) displaying the Tuscan style exterior and Classical orders;
- The Church of St. Augustine (constructed in 1602) which is a complex that fell into ruins and today only one-third of the bell tower remains standing;
- The Basilica of Bom Jesus (built in 1605) and displaying prominent Classical orders; and,
- The Chapel of St. Cajetan (constructed in 1661) and modelled on the original design of St. Peter’s Church in Rome, Italy.
The seven monuments played a significant role during the Portuguese invasion of Goa and exerted great influence for a long time between 16th and 18th centuries. Their influence and power could be seen on the development of architecture and sculpture in the region. These monuments also furthered the spread of the Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art and architecture forms throughout Asia, across the countries where Catholic missions were established at the time. So, these structures glorified the works of the Christian missionaries who were spreading their religion in Asia then.
Popular World Heritage sites
The Basilica of Bom Jesus is a revered Catholic site that houses the remains of Saint Francis Xavier (São Francisco Xavier). Then the Society of Jesus arrived in Goa in 1542, Francisco Xavier was considered the Apostle of the East for his work in the evangelisation of Asia. At the time, the Jesuits erected several structures but the one that survived is the Basilica of Bom Jesus, consecrated in 1605. This beautiful monument is a single nave temple covered by a curved wooden liner and has no side chapel except for two chapel in transepto area. The most venerated treasure here is the transept chapel where the remains of Saint Francis Xavier lie, since 1655, in a finely-crafted silver urn.
The Church of St. Augustine aka Augustine Tower, a ruined church complex where only half the tower remains, is also a popular tourist destination and has been featured in several Indian films as well. The Augustinians arrived in Goa in the sixteenth century and founded a convent and a church building. The church was abandoned in 1835 when the Portuguese government of Goa began evicting many religious orders in Goa under its new repressive policies. After the collapse of the structure owing to neglect, the bell was moved from the tower to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church in Panjim, where it remains presently.
The Se Cathedral or the Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina is the cathedral of the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and the seat of the Patriarch of the East Indies. It is the largest building built by the Portuguese in Asia. The church has three naves of equal height, shaped hall-church similar to the other Portuguese cathedrals of time such as the Sees of Miranda do Douro, Leiria and Portalegre. The Se Cathedral was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese under Afonso de Albuquerque over the Adil Shahis of Bijapur in 1510 that led to the capture of the city of Goa. That day happened to be on the feast of Saint Catherine and so the cathedral was dedicated to her.