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Goa has a unique architectural heritage. Drive through Goa’s villages and you’ll see some of the most beautiful examples of Indo-Portuguese architecture.
When Hindu families converted to Christianity, their homes acquired a more outward looking façade. Verandahs and balconies faced the street and were meeting places where men and women sat together to gossip, chat or enjoy the evening breezes. Design elements like intricate railings, stucco mouldings around windows and doors were purely decorative and were borrowed from houses in Portugal.
Hindu homes, in comparison, were inward looking. The houses had small windows emulating seclusion and privacy of women. The houses rarely opened up on to a road. An inner courtyard provided air circulation and natural light.
The houses were ingeniously built to withstand heavy monsoons and blistering summers. The use of laterite stone, high roofs with tiles, shell windows and high plinths were some of the design elements engineered to ensure these houses kept cool in the hottest months and more-or-less dry in the wettest times of the year.
Documenting the heritage of these architectural splendors are several books as well as a museum in Porvorim. Curated by a Goan architect, the museum is a rich repository of the history of pre-Portuguese and Indo-Portuguese architecture. Another museum in South Goa’s Betalbatim has a wonderful collection of artifacts that once tinkled with life in vast dining halls, ballrooms and private chapels.
A living museum of Goa’s architectural and cultural legacy is the 400-year-old colonial home of the Braganza family in the village of Chandor in South Goa The resplendent home offers a slice of Goa’s aristocracy during the Portuguese era. The ballroom resembles Louis XIV’s Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. A set of dining furniture is carved with the same rose design found in the dining room of Buckingham Palace and a dining set is laced with gold, ivory and ebony from the Far East.
Another magnificent heritage palace is Palacio do Deao in Quepem whose library is home to rare books on Goa’s heritage and history.
A walk through the heritage quarter of Fontainhas in Panjim city is like taking a stroll through a street in Portugal.
Some of our villa owners have maintained this rich heritage by lovingly restoring centuries-old, houses. They have been careful to enhance the beauty and grace of Goa’s heritage while introducing modern conveniences for comfort and luxury.