Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa

Times as published by Goa Tourism and the basilica's own site. Mass is not the time for sightseeing: if you arrive during one, sit quietly at the back or come back after it ends. The Archaeological Survey of India, which looks after the heritage group, lists the monuments as open 8:30–17:30 every day; inside the church, the parish schedule is what applies.

The main altar is dominated by a large statue of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Above the entrance, on the facade outside, the letters IHS (the Jesuit emblem) are carved into the pediment.

The chapel of St Francis Xavier opens off the nave. His tomb was a gift from Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and made in Florence by the sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini; the silver casket on top shows 32 scenes from the saint's life. Next door is a modern art gallery of 36 paintings made between 1973 and 1976.

The facade is bare stone because its lime plaster was stripped off in 1970, which is why the basilica looks so different from the whitewashed churches around it.

The foundation stone was laid on 24 November 1594, and the church was consecrated on 15 May 1605, paid for from the legacy of Dom Jerónimo Mascarenhas, Portuguese captain of Cochin. It was built for the Society of Jesus, and in 1946 it was raised to the rank of a basilica.

Bom Jesus is Portuguese for 'Good Jesus', a name used in the Portuguese-speaking world for Christ as the Ecce Homo, the suffering Christ shown to the crowd. St Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary who died on Shangchuan Island off China in 1552, is the reason pilgrims come: his relics rest here. The church belongs to the Churches and Convents of Goa, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986, together with Se Cathedral across the square and the other churches of Old Goa.

The feast falls on 3 December. For nine evenings before it, the novena (nine days of prayer) fills Old Goa, and on the day itself tens of thousands come; expect heavy traffic, long queues and very little space inside. If you want the church quiet, avoid late November and early December.

Roughly every ten years the relics are brought down and carried to Se Cathedral for the Exposition, weeks of public veneration. The most recent, the 18th, ran from November 2024 to January 2025.

This is a place of prayer for Goa's Catholics and for pilgrims from across India.

Direct buses from Panaji and from Ponda run daily and stop right in front of the basilica. By road from Panaji you can take the old scenic route along the river through Ribandar or the newer highway. Se Cathedral is across the square, and the Archaeological Museum and the Church of St Francis of Assisi are a short walk away, so the whole of Old Goa fits into an unhurried half-day.