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GoaCentral
> Sightseeing > Churches
of Goa > Churches around Margao
Church of Holy spirit, MargaoThis church lies at the site of the
original Shree Damodar temple that was destroyed by the Portuguese and the deity
was moved to Zambaulim. The church was built here in 1565 and soon after was
destroyed and the present building was constructed in 1675. Today it stand as
one of the finest examples of the Indian Baroque style and period of church
building. The outer facade consists of towers on either side with a central dome
structure. The church has a
beautiful interior replete with a pipe organ. The heavily decorated altars
inside are dedicated to St. Peter and St. Michael.
Rachol SeminaryThis is a working seminary and is situated at Rachol,
about 12 Kms from Margao on the banks of the Zuari river. A temple stood on the
original site as evidenced by the artifacts excavated in the area. This is a
working seminary today. It was originally built as a church by the Portuguese in
1521, it was later a fortress and prison and the seminary was established by an
order of King Sebastian of Portugal in 1606 to train Goan Jesuit priests to
propagate Christianity. It subsequently became a great center of learning and
one of its most famous alumni is the English Jesuit priest Fr. Thomas Stevens who is credited to have
translated the bible to Konkani, "Christa Purana" and who also wrote the first
konkani grammar text. Another famous alumni was Father Ribeirio , who created
the first Konkani -Portuguese dictionary in 1626. It was also the site of the
third printing press in the Portuguese eastern empire. It became a diocesan
seminary in 1726. It survived the ban of religious orders in 1833 through the
manipulations of its then rector, Monsignor Rebello. Another famous alumni is
the reverend Father Agnelo De Souza , who for a while was its director . The seminary church is
dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the patron saint of the Society of Jesus,
the order of Jesuits. Today it houses the "museum of Christian Art" which chronicles
the evolution of Christian /catholic art in Goa with interesting artifacts of the
bygone era.
The Rachol parish church, which lies outside the fort is dedicated to Nossa
Senhora de Neves, Our Lady of Snows. Buried in the church is one of the
notorious "Temple destroyers", Diogo Rodríguez. Resting on the steps
to the church is a memorial slab marking the original burial site of the
"Martyrs of Cuncolim", who were put to death in 1583. Their relics
were subsequently moved to the College of St. Paul in Old Goa and again to
a final resting place at the altar of St Anne in the Cathedral.
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