Here is an account of the downfall of this magnificent church.....
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| The hoarding at the complex |
The church had a sprawling vault (roof) which collapsed
between 1842 and 1846. A ban was imposed by the Portuguese
government against the Augustines. Thereafter the church and the convent
were deserted.
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| Beautiful ceramic work near the altar |
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| A closer look |
The chance
discovery of the burial assumes a greater significance in the light of the fact
that during the last quarter of 1998, a Georgian team visited Goa in order to
search for and locate the mortal remains of the Georgian Queen,St. Catevan. The
Queen, who died a martyr in 1624, was buried in Goa, presumably in the St.
Augustine Church complex.
Ketevan
the Martyr
(1560 – September 13, 1624) was a queen of Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia.
She was killed for refusing to give up the Christain faith and convert to Islam.
The
account of Ketevan's martyrdom related by the Augustinians missioners were listed
by her son, Teimuraz, in his poem The Book and Passion of Queen Ketevan. (Reference: wikipedia)
A
team of experts from Hyderabad based, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
(CCMB) along with the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and Estonian
BioCentre have confirmed that a relic excavated from this Goan church was that
of Queen Ketevan of Georgia.
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| Some more ceramic inlay |
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| Altar of St. Nicholas |
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has
undertaken excavation as well restoration work of this monument which has being
going on for some years now. However, a lot more needs to be done and with more
enthusiasm to restore the past glory of this magnificent church.
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| The monument with historical significance - as listed by ASI |
In his blog, http://goanarchitecture.blogspot.in/, Jose FP Lourenco, presented an old
picture of this church and quoted as follows "I've saved the best photograph for last. I found this in my
late uncle's chest while cleaning the musty old attic. It's from a 'Souvenir da
Velha Cidade de Goa' by the venerable photographers Souza & Paul. The back
cover of this photograph collection reads 'Unico
Representante na India Portuguesa das makinas fotograficas Rolleiflex e
Rolleicord'!
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| The outer facade...in bygone days... |
He readily gave me permission to use this rare photograph in
my blog post. Thanks for preserving such a masterpiece and for allowing me to
reproduce this photo on my blog, Jose!
2 comments:
St. Augustine's Tower is a spectacular monument in Goa . It is one of the heritage place in Goa . And always attracts tourists .
St. Augustine's Tower is one of the prominent monuments in Goa city.
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