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CENTRAL GOA Central Goa 80 © LonelyPlanetPublications Sanctuary willtake youtoDudhsagar,Goa’s highestwaterfall. is wellsetupforwildlife-spotting, whilea4WDtripthroughBhagwanMahavir Wildlife Sanctuary BondlaWildlife alsointhispart sanctuaries are ofthestate. Two ofGoa’swildlife with. enamoured andpilgrimsare thattravellers Unesco WorldHeritagesite oftheformer Portuguese allthatremain capital.OldGoaisnowa are of StFrancisXavier) body churches andcathedrals(includingthebasilicacontainingalmost 500-year-old laterite thatGoawasknown inthe17thcenturyasRomeofEast.Here, the reason of Goa’shighlights. townisone understated This fromanotherperspective. anopportunityoffer toseePanaji theirnoiseand nonsense) andcruises(despite River, ontheMandovi idyllically located capital is state The brand-nameproducts. churches andboutiquessellinginternational andcommerce–alleywayswindtheirwaybetweenwhitewashed meeting pointforculture Itisameltingpotofoldandnew, splendour. ofhistoricalandarchitectural repository and,withitsPortuguese OldQuarter (alsocalled theLatinQuarter),an overstatement) a pulse ofGoa. youwilleasilyfindthe Byexploringthisregion, incentralGoa. are highlights ofthestate make abeelineforthebeachesofnorth often Travellers orsouthGoa,butsomeofthe HIGHLIGHTS The temples and spice gardens around Ponda make an interesting day trip from Panaji. daytripfromPanaji. andspicegardensaround Pondamake aninteresting temples The and isOldGoa,oneofthefinestattractions inthestate, About 9kmtotheeastofPanaji town (callingitacitywouldbesomethingof isGoa’smostinteresting (Panjim) Panaji Ali BirdSanctuary and lookfor cranesandkingfishers at inadugout canoe Float through mangroves at thebaseof a 4WDtripthroughthejungleandswim Take near Ponda on atraditionallunch ata anddine howspices canchangeyourlife Learn themagnificentchurchesof Explore in theOldQuarter in andeatout Stay inacolonialheritagehotel elegant city modern-day Panaji ), a bike rideandaneraawayfrom p100 ( Dudhsagar Falls ( p100). Panaji Panaji spice farm ( p82), Goa’s most ( p116) Old Goa ( p114) Dr Salim Dr Salim Bird Sanctuary (Panjim) Dr SalimAli Panaji Old Goa Ponda Dudhsagar Falls www.lonelyplanet.com 010 km CENTRAL GOA 0 6 miles To Mapusa (3km) Sanquelim r 17 Chorao Goa Central ve i Island Ma R Naroa n BICHOLIM Onda Dr Salim Ali dov Bird Sanctuary BARDEZ i Valpoi Mapusa Piedade Betim Divar Island R i v e Ribandar Old Goa r SATARI Fort Aguada 4A Banasterim Panaji K A R N A T A K A Aguada (Panjim) TISWADI Karmali Bay Gaspar (Old Goa) Cotorem Savoi Verem Miramar Dias Church of Train Station Beach St Anne Caranzalem Pilar Cabo Raj Church of Seminary Bamboi Bhagwan Mahavir To Londa (111km); Niwas Bambolim Railway Dona St Andrew PONDA Wildlife Sanctuary Dharwar (146km); an Paula k Belgaum (155km) n Manguesh Usgao o Goa Velha K Temple Bondla Wildlife 4A o r m u g a o Church of Kandepar M B a y St Lawrence Usgao Sanctuary Tambdi Surla Farmagudi Mahadeva Temple Agassaim Safa Shahouri Tisk Mormugao Masjid To Londa Junction; Surla W Castle Rock Ramnath Sahakari Pascoal Sancordem Temple Spice Farm Spice Farm e Vasco da 17A Cortalim Betora s Gama Ponda Darbandora t Dabolim 17 SANGUEM Train Station Shantadurga e Dabolim MORMUGAO r Airport Durbhat Temple Molem 4A n See Ponda & Around Map (p111) G A r a b i a n Molem h National Park a Verna S e a t Train Station Sigao s 4A Colem Train Station Dudhsagar Shiroda Falls SALCETE ay ailw 17 al R CENTRAL GOA entr h C Sout Margao Sanvordem Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary Margao Train Station Sanvordem Train Station K A R N A T A K A QUEPEM 81 CENTRAL GOA CENTRAL 82 CENTRAL GOA •• Panaji www.lonelyplanet.com www.lonelyplanet.com CENTRAL GOA •• Panaji 83 PANAJI Mandovi. The building later became known %0832 / pop 93,000 as the Idalcao’s Palace, Idalcao being a Por- THE GOA INQUISITION In a country composed of unique cities, tuguese corruption of Adil Khan. Little, if When Vasco da Gama sailed for India ‘seeking spices and Christians’ it was perhaps inevitable Panaji (Panjim) boasts its own brand of anything, of the original structure remains, that the worst excesses of European religious zeal should reach Goa sooner or later. As it turned originality. The Portuguese left an indelible although today’s Secretariat Building stands out, they arrived sooner. mark on this small, neat town and their In- on the same site. The Inquisition was re-established in Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century against a dian descendants are proud to be continu- When the Portuguese nobleman Afonso background of rumours that many new Christians, including those who had been converted from ally maintaining and adapting that legacy to de Albuquerque arrived in March 1510 he Judaism, were secretly still observing their old faith. Many escaped the oppression in Portugal suit their ever changing capital. soon took the fort and set about reinfor cing by relocating to the colonies overseas. The architecture of Panaji is the most it. His efforts were in vain, for in May he It wasn’t long before the accusations followed them and missionaries began to be scandal- blatant sign that Goa evolved independ- was forced by Yussuf Adil Shah to abandon ised at the lax behaviour of both the new Christians and the other Portuguese settlers. At the ently of the rest of India; winding alley- the position and had to wait until Novem- request of the missionaries, a deposition of the Inquisition arrived in Goa in 1560. The new CENTRAL GOA ways are lined with Portuguese houses with ber before he could retake it and the city of tribunal was known as the Goa Inquisition, but its jurisdiction spread across the whole of the distinctive red-tiled roofs, wooden window Govepuri (today’s Old Goa). Having done Portuguese eastern empire. shutters and rickety balconies overhanging so, Albuquerque personally supervised the Having established itself in the sultan’s old palace in Old Goa, the tribunal set about imposing tidy streets. The old quarter of Fontainhas rebuilding of the fortress to his own speci- its will. Hindus were forbidden to practise their faith and even the Christian population lived in particularly evinces the Portuguese history fications. Accounts of the time say that he fear. The tribunal sat regularly in judgment before the long carved table that today is in the Goa CENTRAL GOA that is spliced into the Indian milieu; plain was in such a hurry to complete the work State Museum in Panaji, and below the crucifix that now hangs in the Chapel of St Sebastian in whitewashed churches are tucked in small before the next Muslim attack that even his Panaji. The more fortunate victims were stripped of their possessions; those who were less lucky laneways that are a short walk from not-so- officers were pressed into manual labour. were detained indefinitely in the dungeons beneath the Palace of the Inquisition. subtle Hindu temples. The only other bit of building that took Those who were judged guilty underwent the notorious auto-da-fé (act of the faith), a public Across Ourem Creek is the business dis- place at this time was the raising of a small ceremony, which was conducted in the square outside the Se Cathedral and accompanied by the trict of Patto, where the tallest buildings church in around 1540 on the site where tolling of the great bell in the cathedral tower. If they failed the test of faith they would usually are to be found. It is here where the state’s the huge Church of Our Lady of the Im- be burned at the stake. Those who were willing to admit their heresy at the last moment were prosperity comes into focus as the traffic maculate Conception now stands. Since all strangled before the pyre was lit. gets busier and old buildings are replaced ships had to call in at the fortress on arrival The Inquisition was suppressed in Goa in 1774. with sharp-edged modern constructions. in Goa, the church was the first stop for the The Mandovi River laps the northern Portuguese sailors celebrating their safe ar- border of Panaji and at night it becomes rival in India. to support increasing numbers of refugees In effect there was little change to the a catwalk for the tourist boats that parade The first large-scale land reclamation was from the capital. At first the viceroy and size and shape of the town until Goa’s in- up and down. completed in 1634 when, under the orders most of the noblemen moved to Panelim, dependence from Portugal in 1961. After Though tourists often dart off to the of the viceroy, the count of Linhares, a near present-day Ribandar, to escape the the departure of the Portuguese, the city beaches of the north or south, they would causeway was built to join Panjim (the Por- epidemics, but when that too became un- was renamed Panaji and a few superficial do well to linger a little longer in this laid- tuguese name for the settlement) and Old healthy a new location was sought. changes were made. The Secretariat Build- back capital where the Goan spirit of taking Goa, which until that time had been separ- In 1759 the viceroy moved to Panjim, ing became home to the State Assembly and it easy is alive and well. Opening hours are ated by marshland. The 3km route, known where he took over the fortress as his own a couple of statues were erected to heroes lazy in this slow-paced, low-rise capital and as the Ribandar Causeway (from the name residence. Although Mormugao had al- of the Goan Independence movement. As its compact size makes everything comfort- of the village at its eastern end), was a far- ready been selected as the best location for a sign of Panaji’s progressiveness, the flash ably accessible on foot. Panjim makes for a sighted piece of planning. It made Panjim a new capital, the fact that the viceroy had new Assembly Complex was built on the nice prelude or ending to lackadaisical days a feasible alternative as the capital when, chosen to live in Panjim rather sealed the hill just north of Panaji and inaugurated on the beach. The bustling markets, busy years later, Old Goa had to be abandoned issue. Those who could afford it moved to in 2000.

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