Not just the fun beaches, party and drinks are goa's forte but the beautiful catholic Portuguese Architecture is one of the major highlights for the people who admire the structural beauty.
I am packed with bundle of pictures to showcase, All stating the typical Portuguese style of architecture.
Basilica of Bom Jesus
Historically, this church's construction began in 1594 and it consists the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. This comes under UNESCO world's heritage sites.
Architecturally, this is exemplary structure of Baroque style this church is considered to be the oldest church of Goa. This hasn't been plastered but maintenance runs time to time.
This more than 400 years old church is wonderful and still stands strong allowing people to go through it's wonderful details. The entire structure owes a different colour than regular white ones. It is made up of laterite stone which was bought from 300 km away from goa and is till date upholding strongly. The interior was marble mosaic, It wasn't allowed to click pictures inside so I will focus on the façade here.
Rich in cultural and religious aspects this church' has a very delicate carvings on the top part of the façade, just below the triangular pediment which says IHS this basically is an emblem's abbreviation meaning 'Jesus, Saviour of Men'.
I really liked this perspective of the picture. Can we just appreciate the angles, circles, rectangles and delicate mouldings. The windows are dramatic.
The critical details like rich textures, geometrical shapes, intricate detailings, Architrave, blind doors (I found many of them on the side elevations), The attached triangular pediments were all differently decorated.
Each panels on the wall holds different designs. Inside it there were paintings and carvings directly from Bible. There are art galleries within the complex and hold beautiful oil paintings.
Can you spot the curved balusters and the blind windows and the typical attached triangular pediments just above the blind windows. How fascinating are these!
Church of St. Francis of Assisi
The typical Portuguese style is showcased here. This was build back in 1660 and is situated in old goa, It was not too far from the basilica, we rented bike and went thereto admire this another renowned world's heritage site.
How majestic was this door, This is the best feature about the structure which I loved. The mouldings around the door is very aesthetically appealing, I just felt the need for a whitewash or some renovations to make it pop more.
Architecturally this place had wonderful features. let me explain my observations . I felt like it's quite a mixture not exactly baroque. As the façade decoration was Tuscan order but the interior was purely Baroque, including the main altar. There were octagonal towers as depicted in the picture below. The central part consisted of the statue of St. Michael.
From blind windows to circular balusters everything was very creative and artistic. Similar to the last structure I wasn't allowed to carry my camera inside. But it was beautiful there. The plaque there explained-The central nave is barrel-vaulted while the crossing is rib-vaulted which supports the choir. The internal buttress walls, separating the chapels and supporting the gallery on top, have frescoes showing floral designs.
I am aware of the basic terminology and these were quite hard, it was all written there but fairly understood.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church
I saved the best one for the last. This church was built in 1540s and it's the charm of the city. It is the most attractive place of Panjim, I did a little shopping over there for my friends and family. It was worth visiting. Okay, Fun fact- Many movies were filmed in front of this church.
How can one not appreciate the white base with the pop of little turquoise color!
The crown of panjim, has a bell in between the arch of top pf façade. with mini balusters and intricate mouldings it shows a symmetrical balance.
The staircase are the most dominating factor of the façade. The diagonal stairways add much of interest into space. This was beautifully designed. The handrails and balusters are very vivid here, from staircase to roof each one is different. The arches, slab supports, cornice and triangular pediments and the columns are very detailed. Admired the beauty of the place. It was wonderful.
There were temp. canopies on the beach which were lighten up with vivid colors. loved the place.
