Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Goa

Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Goa


The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is located in Old Goa and 9 Km away from Panaji. The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is sited in the same complex, where Se Cathedral is situated. The church is a stunning building, constructed during 1517-1521 AD. A church sanctified to the Holy Ghost was built in 1521 and was later demolished. The present church was then built on the same spot in 1661 with Tuscan facade and a Baroque interior, maintaining only the foyer of the earlier church. There used to be an educational institution within the church. The Portuguese government closed the convent in 1835. The Archaeological Survey of India renewed the church into a museum in 1964. The church displays relics and paintings of Hindu temple sculptures from Goa.

The main entrance of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi is in Manuline style and the exterior of the church is of the Tuscan order. The main altar is Baroque with Corinthian features. The internal buttress walls, separating the chapels and supporting the gallery on top, have frescoes showing intricate floral designs. In a niche on the facade, stands a statue of our lady of miracles brought from Jaffna in Sri Lanka. A wooden statue of St. Francis of Assisi adorns a pedestal bearing the insignia of the Franciscans. A wooden pulpit, richly carved with floral designs is to the left as one enters. There is a statue of St. Michael right at the entrance of the church. The main altar is gilded and has a richly carved niche with a tabernacle supported by the four evangelists. Two huge statues of St Francis Assisi and the other of the Jesus on the Cross are placed above the tabernacle.  A painting on the ceiling near the doorway has a unique Indian feel to it. The architecture is a blend of the Tuscan style on the outside and the Mosaic-Corinthian style on the inside. The internal area of the church is beautifully decorated with the scenes and depictions from the Bible and wall carvings show very fine and intricate floral designs.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi houses the archeological Museum too (convent turned into an Archaeological Museum for public). The Museum architecture has a touch of the Indo-Portuguese Baroque style. The inscribed tombstones pave the floor. The Archeological Museum was established in the convent in 1964. The double storied structure, 230 feet long and 108 ft wide was the residence of Archbishop till 1695, when they moved to Panelim.  Its eclectic collection comprises 60 portraits of the Portuguese viceroys and governors of Goa. Other appealing exhibits are a statue of Albuquerque, a model of Vasco da Gama, the bronze statue of St Catherine from the Viceroy Arch, Grey basalt statues of Lord Vishnu and a standing Statute of the God Surya, both belong to the Kadamba period. Exhibits at the museum include prehistoric items from a distant tribal past as also reminders of Goa Dourada, Golden Goa, also known as the 'Pearl of the Orient' or 'Rome of the East' during its heyday. The museum also exhibits stone slabs with inscriptions in Marathi and Persian, hero stones, sati stones, coins and Christian iconography in wood.

The church is open for the public from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm except on Sundays and the museum is open 9 am to 12:30 pm and 3 pm to 6:30 pm.