4 Best Sights in Old Goa, Goa

Dedicated to the worship of the infant Jesus, the Basilica of Bom Jesus is also known throughout the Christian world as the tomb of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of Goa, who was handed the task of spreading Christianity in the Portuguese colony. The saint's body has "survived" almost 500 years now without ever having been embalmed, and lies in a silver casket well out of reach of visitors. Built from local red stone around the turn of the 17th century, the tomb took the Florentine sculptor Giovanni Batista Foggini 10 years to complete. Once every 10 years the missionary's body is exposed to the public at close quarters, drawing thousands of pilgrims.

A part of the Franciscan monastery behind the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, the Archaeological Museum has an intricately gilded and carved interior. The museum's collection is not entirely devoted to Catholic objets d'art; it also has bits and pieces from Goa's early Hindu history. It's worth a quick look around, if only to peruse the portrait gallery of Goa's viceroys.

Inside the Convent of St. Monica, the Museum of Christian Art has a number of objects of Christian interest, including paintings and religious silverware, some dating back to the 16th century. The convent was the first nunnery of its kind in the East, and functioned as one until the late 19th century.

The imposing white Sé (St. Catherine's) Cathedral—the largest church in Old Goa—was built between 1562 and 1652 by order of the king of Portugal. Fine carvings depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Blessed Virgin over the main altar, which commemorates St. Catherine of Alexandria. Several splendidly decorated chapels are dedicated to St. Joseph, St. George, St. Anthony, St. Bernard, and the Holy Cross. Only one of the cathedral's two original majestic towers remains; the other collapsed in 1776.