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Goa or Velha Goa ("Velha"
means old in Portuguese) is a historical city in North
Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. The city
was constructed by the Bijapur Sultanate in the 15th century,
and served as capital of Portuguese India from the 16th century
until its abandonment in the 18th century due to plague. The
remains of the city are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The name Old Goa was first used in the 1960s
in the address of the Konkani monthly magazine,
dedicated to spread the devotion of the Sacred Heart, Dor
Mhoineachi Rotti which was shifted to the Basilica
de Bom Jesus in 1964. Postal letters were returned
back to the sender, as the name "Old Goa" was unknown
then, according to then and long time editor of the monthly,
the great Goan historian late Padre Moreno de Souza, SJ. The
village panchayat uses the name Sé-Old Goa, while the
post office, Archaeological Survey of India use the name Velha
Goa. The place is called as Saibachem Goem (referring to St.
Francis Xavier as Saib i.e. Master), Pornem Goem,
Adlem Goem or just Goem in Konkani. The name Velha Goa should
not be confused with another former Goan capital Goa Velha,
lying some villages away in the south. The names Vhoddlem
Goem and Thorlem Goem refers to Goa Velha, while Goem besides
referring to Velha Goa i.e. Old Goa also refers to the whole
state of Goa in some contexts.
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.
The city 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 of Bijapur
under the rule of Adil Shah. It was surrounded by a moat and
contained the Shah's palace, and his 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's residence was transferred in
1759 to the future capital, Panaji (then
Pangim), at the time a village about 9 kilometres to its west.
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 Pangim. It
continued to be the de jure capital of Gôa until 1843,
when the capital was then shifted to Pangim (Ponnjê
in Konkani, Nova Goa in Portuguese and Panjim in English).
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 located on the old site of Govapuri.
Velha Goa was incorporated into the Republic of India in 1961,
together with the rest of Goa.
Old Goa contains churches affiliated to various congregations,
including the Se Cathedral (the seat of the Archbishop of
Goa), the Church of St. Francis of Assisi,
the Church of S. Caetano, and notably,
the Basilica of Bom Jesus which contains the relics
of Saint Francis Xavier, which is celebrated
every year on 3 December with novenas beginning on 24 November.
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