We didn't have much time for a long cultural outing on our weekend away (too busy eating per my previous post) but we did manage to hire a car and driver for the day who took us to Panjim, Old Goa and Margao.
Mr Jules and I did not have high regard for Panjim (Goa's capital city) and Margao was only interesting from the point of view of its local covered market. Old Goa was completely different - a World Heritage Site consisting of several historical and unspoilt buildings.
To give some background, Old Goa was once the original capital of this Portuguese colony - a European style metropolis whose grand architecture reflected tremendous power, wealth and prestige. Dominating the centre were churches, convents, cathedrals and monasteries and it is this soaring architecture that still remains today. But don't worry I'm not going to bore you with loads of history, here are the photos (they are a bit dark - it was a monsoony day):
Mr Jules and I did not have high regard for Panjim (Goa's capital city) and Margao was only interesting from the point of view of its local covered market. Old Goa was completely different - a World Heritage Site consisting of several historical and unspoilt buildings.
To give some background, Old Goa was once the original capital of this Portuguese colony - a European style metropolis whose grand architecture reflected tremendous power, wealth and prestige. Dominating the centre were churches, convents, cathedrals and monasteries and it is this soaring architecture that still remains today. But don't worry I'm not going to bore you with loads of history, here are the photos (they are a bit dark - it was a monsoony day):
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| Se Cathedral (the e in Se should have an accent but I can't figure out how to do it) |
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| Basilica of Bom Jesus through the trees. |
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| Inside the Basilica Bom Jesus. Particularly fine gold leaf work don't you think? |
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| Brings to mind Aunt Mabel and her sagging breasts. |
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| Se cathedral again |
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| The interior of Se Cathedral. By this point Mr Jules has told me he is not entering any more of the religious buildings for fear of being struck down |
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| Front entrance of Se Cathedral. |
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| Just love this tree which appears to be leaning as far away as possible from the statue of Jesus! |
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| Convent of St Cajetan |
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| Inside the Convent of St Catejan (by this point Mr Jules is lingering back to photograph a Kingfisher he has spotted outside). Check out that huge altar - it looks like some sort of medieval offering table. I wonder if there are some girls that enter the convent never to be seen again..... |
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| I just liked the symmetry... |
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| A nun with a frou-frou dog complete with pigtail! All that's missing is her Louis Vuitton handbag... |
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| Maintain Decorum! Don't I always? |
Sounds right up my alley Jules. Hope you're both ok. We miss you loads x
ReplyDeleteYou like a good World Heritage Site don't you!! We miss you too, you know you're always welcome here for an 'interesting' getaway! xx
Deleteamazing this is..would love to visit that place. can you please tell me exact location of this place?
ReplyDeletewaiting for your reply
thanks a lot for sharing with us.
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Hi David, thanks for reading. This place is definitely the jewel of Goa in terms of architecture. It is in South Goa, about a 30 minute ride out of the capital Panjim Just in case you are not aware - the town is called Old Goa. I am attaching a link to Google Maps - I don't know if it will work?
Deletehttps://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&q=location+of+Old+Goa&ie=UTF-8&authuser=0
Regards
BombayJules
This is a beautiful post on Old Goa. Very helpful. Am headed there next weekend.
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