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GoaCentral
> Sightseeing
> Monuments of Goa > Monuments
around Panaji
As the capital of Goa, Panaji boasts of many
historical monuments, some modified and renamed following Goa's liberation in
1961. Click on for more...
This is the oldest surviving building in Panaji
today. It is also known as Idalcao's palace, "Idalcaon" being the Portuguese
corrupted word for Adil Shah Khan, the Sultan of Bijapur. This is built on the
site of the Adil Shah palace by the Mandovi river. It was a fortress initially,
and then the palace of viceroy's of Goa for a short while from 1759 to 1918.In
1918, the viceroy moved to Cabo Raj Niwas in Dona Paula. Post liberation, It has housed
Goa's Secretariat, legislative assembly and other important government offices.
The Legislative assembly has since moved to its new location across the Mandovi.
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| Secretariat Building |
Secretariat Building |
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This is a square piece of land with a central domed
structure under which stood a bronze statue of Alfonso de Albuquerque, since
moved to the state museum at Old Goa. It is now a memorial dedicated to Dr,
Tristao de Braganza Cunha, a prominent Goan freedom fighter and another
dedicated to Martyr's.
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| TB Cunha Memorial |
Martyr's Memorial |
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It used to be called the "Jardim de
Garcia da Orta" after Garcia de Orta, a famous 16th century physician.
Garcia de Orta spent his entire life cataloguing indian herbs and produced
a treatise on the comparative study of European and Indian medicine. The
original work was published in 1563 in Goa. In the center of the square stands a
column, about 12 meters high on which once stood for a very long time the statue of Vasco da
Gama. This was built out of material taken from Old Goa and was built to commemorate
his 400th anniversary of the discovery of sea route to India. After
liberation Vasco da Gama's statue was moved to the state museum at Old Goa. In its place we now see
India's national emblem, the Ashoka pillar with the lions.
This is an old part of town between the hillock of Altinho
and the Rua de Ourem creek. It gets its name from the multitude of springs in
the area. Its narrow streets gives one the impression of being in Portuguese Goa.
At the southern end of this section is situated The Church of St. Sebastian, in
which stands today the "Crucifix of the Inquisition " which formerly hung in the
Palace of the Inquisition in Old Goa. It was moved here in 1918 from the chapel
in Idalcao's palace.
This is another old part of the city and is the area around
the present day GPO (General Post Office). The GPO building used to be the old
tobacco house and the building to its right was the mint. The area in front of
these buildings was Panjim's pillory and used to be the site of public executions.
Here in 1843, fifteen conspirators of the failed "Pinto Revolt" were
executed.
This is the hillock overlooking the city of Panaji. It is
divided into two parts by the Emidio Garcia Road. It is the site of the
"Bishop's palace" and is the residence of the Archbishop of Goa. Its
construction was begun in 1886 and completed in 1894. It was constructed to
reflect the elevation of the Archbishop to a patriarch. It has an impressive
coat of arms at its entrance that belongs to Goa's first Patriarch, Dom Antonio
Sebastio Valente. The official Chief Minister's residence is also in the area
and so is the tower of All India Radio station and nearby is situated the
Government Polytechnic and the College of Pharmacy and government housing.
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| Bishop's
Palace, Altinho |
Bishop's
Palace, Altinho |
Bishop's
Palace, Altinho |
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This is situated centrally near the Secretariat
building and is a statue of Abbe Faria hypnotizing a young woman. He was a
famous Goan priest, scientist, revolutionary, and hypnotist who was born in 1756
at Candolim. His parents separated when he was eight years old, his mother
became a nun and his father a priest . His father took him to Lisbon in 1777 and
it was there that he completed his studies and was subsequently ordained as a
priest in Rome. He reportedly collaborated with the conspirators in the
failed "Pinto Revolt" in 1787. He then moved to Paris where he gained fame
and took part in the French revolution, and was dramatized in Alexander Dumas's
novel "The Count of Monte Cristo " as the "Mad monk". He
then got interested in hypnotism. His major contribution to the modern science
of Hypnotism was his insistence that hypnotic trances were a result of
suggestion therapy, and formed the basis of his book " De La cause de
Sommeil Lucide" published the day he died in 1819 a pauper. He is considered to be the father of
Hypnotism.
This is an institute
founded in 1871 originally called the Institute Vasco da Gama. It was a
scientific/historical institute renamed after Menezes Braganza, an eminent Goan freedom
fighter. It has an interesting collection of historical artifacts
including the famous" Inquisition table" said to be the on which the council of
the Inquisition' s proceedings were conducted when deciding the "auto da
fe". It also houses the Central
Library, founded in 1832, the oldest public library in India. It has a rich
collection of historical books from the collections of the various religious
orders that were banned in 1750's.
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| Menezes Braganza
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This famous institution is located on the banks of
the river towards Miramar and just beside the market. It until a few years ago
housed the campus of the only medical school and hospital in Goa. It has since
moved to a new campus at Bambolim, 6kms away towards Vasco. It is purported to
be the oldest medical school in Asia and was established in 1842. Improvements
to the school were due to the then Governor of Goa, Jose Ferreira de Pestano (
1844-51 and 1864-70 ). The first eight graduates graduated from the school and
were granted degrees in 1846. It used to be called the "Escola de Medica
Cirugiao" and used to give its coveted diploma "Diploma de Medico Cirugiao" or
"M.C". Today there are still a few of Goa's physicians practicing with this
degree. After liberation it became the Goa Medical College and began conducting
the MBBS course after being affiliated with the University of Bombay. After 1987
it became affiliated to the newly established Goa University .
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