The UNESCO World Heritage Site of “Churches and Convents of Goa” comprises of seven constituent sites. They are:

- Basilica of Bom Jesus

- Se Cathedral

- Church of St. Francis of Assisi

- Chapel of Santa Catarina/Chapel of St. Catherine

- Ruins of the Church of St. Augustine

- Church of Divine Providence (São Caetano or Saint Cajetan)

- Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário/Church of Our Lady of the Rosary

The one thing that we realized was that, unless you have a guide or an experienced driver, most people did not know where all the seven constituent sites were actually located — they knew the more famous ones and we initially had some difficulty in locating all of them. Your best bet is to locate the Basilica of Bom Jesus or the Se Cathedral (these two are directly opposite each other across the road) — these two are very well known and serve as good reference points. Once you have located the Se Cathedral, you can find/locate a rough indicative map for all the major sites. This map is in the same complex as the Se Cathedral.

Basilica of Bom Jesus is the only monument that directly finds a mention in the UNESCO webpage. This church is famous as it contains the tomb of St. Francis Xavier and associated artifacts including the casket/coffin in which he was brought back to Goa.

The Se Cathedral is located directly across the road (opposite) from the Basilica of Bom Jesus. The church was more ornate than the Basilica of Bom Jesus in terms of the art work and religious motifs.

Church of St. Francis of Assisi, initially completed in 1521, it was completely rebuilt in the 17th century. The church has many paintings on the life of St. Francis of Assisi and an altarpiece with a picture of Jesus and Francis Xavier.

The Chapel of St Catherine was erected by the Portuguese conqueror Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510 to commemorate his triumphant entry into the city on St Catherine’s Day.

Ruins of the Church of St. Augustine - founded in the late sixteenth century, the only thing noteworthy that remains of the church and monastery of St. Augustine is the tower that stands tall amidst the ruins. The 46 meter high tower served as the belfry and the facade of the church. The ruins are a sight that is not to be missed and was probably the best of what we saw among the seven monuments.

Church of Divine Providence (São Caetano or Saint Cajetan) - Built by Italian friars of the Order of the Theatines in the 17th century, the facade of Church of Divine Providence is based on the design of the St. Peter’s Basilica at Rome. The church is dedicated to both Our Lady of Divine Providence and St. Catejan as is evidenced by the altars and the paintings in the church.

Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário/Church of Our Lady of the Rosary - built in the 16th century, Church of Our Lady of the Rosary is one of the oldest churches in Old Goa. Built at a vantage point, one can have excellent views of the Mandovi River.

Since we had a flight to catch, we did manage to see all the monuments in roughly 2.5 hours. We also wanted to visit the museum in the Se Cathedral complex but we ran out of time. We definitely intend to check out the museum in our next visit to Goa.

In summary, we managed to see some great monuments and the heritage churches gave us a great snapshot of the history. We would urge everyone visiting Goa to drop in at Old Goa and see these heritage churches. Definitely a great addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List from India’s perspective.

Additional notes for guidance:

1. Try to locate the Basilica of Bom Jesus. It is by far the easiest church to locate in Old Goa.

2. Se Cathedral is located right opposite (across the street) from the Basilica of Bom Jesus.

3. Se Cathedral, Church of St. Francis of Assisi and the Chapel of St. Catherine are all on the same grounds/complex.

4. The museum is also in the same complex.

5. You have to locate others from the map/local guidance.

6. The airport (Dabolim) is roughly an hour away from Old Goa.

7. North Goa and South Goa would also roughly be an hour/an hour and fifteen minutes from Old Goa.

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