Old Goa (Originally 'Goa' or 'The city of Goa') was a historic city situated on the southern bank of the River Mandovi, on the island of Tiswadi.The city was established by the Bijapur Sultanate in the 15th century AD. Following its conquest by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, the city rapidly grew in importance and became the capital of the Portuguese East Indies, becoming a flourishing metropolitan city of 2,00,000 by the 17th century.Goa tremendiously influenced its surrounding territory and eventually gave the modern state of Goa its name. The city was remarked by numerous travellers as being one of the wealthiest cities in Asia, filled with splendor and pomp. The city reached its zenith during 1580–1630, rivalling the cities of London and Lisbon of that time.The city was struck by numerous plagues and epidemics all through the 17th century, and it rapidly decayed following the decline of Portuguese supremecy in the east. It was already deserted by the 1760's.
Etymology
The name "Old Goa" was first used in the 1960s in the address of the Romi Konkani monthly magazine, dedicated to spread the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Dor Mhoineachi Rotti, which was shifted to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in 1964. Postal letters were returned to the sender, as the name "Old Goa" was unknown then, according to the long-time editor of the monthly, the great Goan historian Father Moreno de Souza, S.J.
The village panchayat uses the name Sé-Old Goa, while the lndia Post and the Archaeological Survey of India use the name Velha Goa.
The place is popularly called Saibachem Gõy (referring to Saint Francis Xavier as Saib, i.e., Master), Pornnem Gõy, Adlem Gõy, or simply just Gõy in Konkani.
Velha Goa should not be confused with Goa Velha lying a few miles away. The names Vhoddlem Gõy and Thorlem Gõy ("Big Goa") refer to Goa Velha; while Gõy, besides referring to Velha Goa ("Old Goa"), also generally refers to the entire Goa state.
History
The city was founded in the 15th century as a port on the banks of the Mandovi river by the rulers of the Bijapur Sultanate. It was built to replace Govapuri, which lay a few kilometres to the south and had been used as a port by the Kadamba and Vijayanagar kings. Old Goa was the second capital after Bijapur of the rule of Adil Shahi Dynasty. It was surrounded by a moat and contained the shah's palace, mosques, and temples. The city was captured by the Portuguese and was under Portuguese rule from 1510 as the administrative seat of Portuguese India.
The viceroy moved from the Palacio da Fortaleza to Panelim, a surburb on the outskirts of the city, where he resided in the Casa de Polvora. In 1759, he removed himself and his government to the future capital, Panjim (then a village about 9 kilometres to the west). Few remnants, if any, of the pre-Portuguese period remain at Old Goa.
During the mid-16th century, the Portuguese colony of Goa, especially Velha Goa, was the center of Christianisation in the East. The city was evangelized by all religious orders, since all of them had their headquarters there. The population was roughly 200,000 by 1543. Malaria and cholera epidemics ravaged the city in the 17th century and it was largely abandoned, only having a remaining population of 1,500 in 1775. It was then that the viceroy moved to Panjim. It continued to be the de jure capital of Goa until 1843, when the capital was shifted to Panjim (Ponnjê in Konkani, Nova Goa in Portuguese and Panaji in Hindi). The abandoned city came to be known as "Velha Goa" (in Portuguese, 'Old Goa'), to distinguish it from the new capital Nova Goa (Panjim) and probably also Goa Velha (also meaning "Old Goa"), which was the Portuguese name for the town on the old site of Govapuri.
Velha Goa was incorporated into the Republic of India after its annexation in 1961, with the rest of Goa. It retains its religious significance in modern-day Goa, notably in its relations with Roman Catholicism. The Archbishop of Goa and Daman holds title as the Patriarch of the East Indies. Unlike the patriarchs and the major archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Patriarch of the East Indies only enjoys honorary title and is fully subject to the Pope. He has a place in the Latin Church similar to the Patriarchs of Venice and Lisbon. This title was conferred upon the Archbishop of Goa as part of a settlement between the Holy See and the Portuguese government concerning the link between religious and political aspects of its territories.
Churches of Old Goa
The City of Goa became a great centre of Christianisation and was considered the supreme seat of Catholicism in the east. The archbishop of Goa controlled territories from the cape of good hope to the Moluccas. The boom in trade and commerce in the city gave rise to a class of ‘Fidalgos’ that grew extremely wealthy and powerful. They would often offer great patronage to the churches in the city. The city also had an enormous catholic population that required larger churches and more parishes. The religious orders also owned a significant number of churches and other property in the city, often by grand from the King of Portugal. All these factors meant that at its peak, the City held about 50 churches and convents, most of which were monumental and grandiose.
Today, the only surviving churches include the Se Cathedral (the seat of the Archbishop of Goa), the Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount, the Church of St. Caetano and, notably, the Basilica of Bom Jesus (Which contains the relics of Saint Francis Xavier, who is celebrated every year on 3 December with novenas beginning on 24 November) The Church of Santa Monica , The Church of St. John of God, the royal chapel of St. Antony, The church of Our lady of the rosary, The church of São Pedro, The church of São Brás.
Decline
The rise and fall of cities, as of nations, is the work of time, and Goa was no exeption to it.
— José Nicolau da Fonseca, An Historical and Archæological Sketch of the City of Goa (1878)
The decline of the city of Goa was slow, and it began while the city was still at the height of its wealth. Even then, in the words of the same account, a visitor could "make out the seed of premature decay" amid the pomp, splendour, grandeur and wealth of the capital. The capital was formally moved to Panjim only in 1843, long after the city had passed its peak.
Causes
The city stood on low, enclosed ground that was stifling and badly drained, and its water came from many polluted wells. Epidemics were frequent and killed viceroys, archbishops, inquisitors and officials in large numbers. The poor quality of the water has also been blamed for a sharp rise in deaths from cholera and malaria.From the later 16th century the city's commercial importance fell. Attacks by the Dutch and the English severely restricted Portuguese trade and revenues, and the Dutch blockaded Goa more than once in the 17th century, a second time from 1656 to 1663. During the Napoleonic Wars the British, who surrounded the Estado da Índia on all sides, occupied Goa. As the city declined, officials and residents moved gradually down the Mandovi towards Ribandar and Panjim, and the population of the old city shrank.
Moral explanations
Fonseca's description of the city in its prosperity dwells on the luxury and idleness of its upper class, who called themselves fidalgos and, in his account, lived on the earnings of their slaves. He describes "profligacy" as having become "the reigning vice among the higher classes", and their morals as "hopelessly corrupt and depraved". These descriptions rest on the accounts of travellers such as Linschoten and Pyrard, which were retold and embellished by later writers, and modern historians treat them with caution.
Abandonment and ruin
In 1774 the Marquis of Pombal ordered the cleansing and restoration of the city and the return of royal officials; three plans were drawn up between 1774 and 1777 and, although the scheme failed, they record the buildings then still standing. Buildings were dismantled and their materials reused, a practice particularly encouraged by the viceroy Diogo de Sousa, Count of Rio Pardo (1816–1821), and the suppression of the religious orders in 1834 emptied many of the convents. In 1843 the capital was officially moved to Panjim as "Nova Goa", and the old city came to be called "Velha Goa".
A 1959 plan for the "reintegration" of Velha Goa gave the central area, where the churches and convents now stand in open grounds, its present landscaped form. The surviving churches and convents were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986 as the Churches and convents of Goa.