This is India's western coast where 30% of the population is Roman Catholic. The Portuguese ambition and Roman Catholic zeal established the city - Goa which many called it the Rome of the tropics that became a dazzling out post to western imperial grandeur. The city, the Portuguese built became the keystone of the Eastern Portuguese Empire. It gave origin to the Portuguese proverb Quem viu Goa, excusa de ver Lisboa (He who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon). This rich and well planned city was soon known as Queen of all the East.

Long before the coming of the Europeans the lore of Goa was well known. For centuries the people prospered in farming the rich alluvial lands and harvesting fish & shell fish. In the 15th Century, a port sprang up on the banks of the Mandovi near the tiny village of Ela which was the capital city. Shortly after was the arrival of the Muslim Bahmani Sultanate in 1470 and as it was disintegrating, Gove (abbreviated form of Govepuri known by the muslim invaders) came into the hands of the Muslims Bijapur Sultanate and as it was so favoured by Yussuf Adil Shah that it became his second capital.

The fabled Golden age for Gove began in 1510 with the appearance of the Portuguese, who further had it as GOA, commanded by Alfonso de Albuquerque who managed to gain control of the entire island briefly in March, but was evicted by Yussuf Adil Shah two months later. Having ridden out the monsoon in his ships, the indomitable Albuquerque attacked again in the autumn and on 25 November, St. Catherine's Day, recaptured Goa.

Now the Portuguese were able to profit from the lucrative local trade in horses and spices, and as the wealth poured in, so did immigrants - by the end of the sixteenth century, some 2500 new arrivals every year replenished a population constantly depleted by disease. With them cam missionaries from various religious Orders, encouraged by the colonial government as a "civilizing influence" on the natives. This process was hastened by the arrival in 1542 of Francis Xavier, and by the dreaded Holy Office, better known as the Inquisition, for whose trials and bloody auto da fé (acts of faith) the colony later became notorious.

This former Portuguese capital, soaring high above the surrounding canopy of riverine palm grooves, the colossal, cream-painted Cathedral towers belfries and domes, is nowadays known as OLD GOA, it is far away the state's most impressive historical monuments, and collectively one of the finest crops of Renaissance architecture in the world. It is sprawled south covering 10 kms from a grand civic center and bustling port in the banks of the Mandovi River to within a stone's throw of Zuari estuary, To get to your destiny, you are served by buses every 15 minutes from the state capital, Panjim's Kadamba bus stand, which would take just 15 to 20 minutes traveling time. Alternatively, auto-rickshaws or taxis

The road passes over the causeway which was build over swamp in 1633 by the then Viceroy. It is a very attractive ride in the early morning, especially in the winter when the mist often hovers over the still waters of the estuary. The old houses along the road, some substantial and some modest and painted in evocative colours, still conjure up an image of the 17th century Portuguese Goa. The Church to Our Lady of help, originally built in 1565, gives thanks to the safe arrival of a Portuguese vessel after a fierce storm at sea. Today the ferry is in frequent use for crossing over to Chorão Island for visiting the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. It is the shortest route across the Mayem and Bicholim.