Capital of Salcete Taluka, and Goa’s second largest city, Madgaon has always been commercially abuzz. The River Sal, today silted up into a tiny stream, once had boats plying cargo to and from Arabia and Africa, making Madgaon quite a prosperous settlement even before the advent of the Portuguese. It was an important centre for trade, learning and religious activities. Educational institutions and cultural centres completed the picture.
Today the place is obviously commercial. Yet its shaded streets lined with colonial mansions, its bazaars full of the rich produce of Goa with many buys not found anywhere else, Madgaon is a perfect base from which to venture forth into rural Salcete.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO
Church Square
To many, the Church Square or Largo de Igreja is the most arresting part of Madgaon, and is one of its two focal areas. This is the Latin Quarter with graceful Colonial mansions. On one side of the square sits the Church of the Holy Spirit, built by the Jesuits in 1564, in the heart of Madgaon on the site of a temple and a monastery. Adil Shah’s army swept in and destroyed the church in 1571. Makeshift repairs were carried out in 1645 when it was named the Church of the Holy Spirit. It was completed only in 1675. The interior of the church is worth a careful look – especially the altars. Its external setting too is a feast for the eyes as it sits in splendour in a vast rectangular mango tree-lined square, looking at old Colonial homes in its vicinity.
One of these is the famous ancestral home of Eurico da Silva. Formerly a seven-gabled house, da Silva’s Sat Burnzam Ghor (House of Seven Gables) now only has three.
Loutolim
Loutulim is home to the late cartoonist Mario Miranda’s mansion, besides several other traditional Goan mansions and Ancestral Goa (Tel: 2777034), an open-air museum that depicts life in Goa’s villages centuries ago.
Ancestral Goa also has a restaurant, which serves authentic Goan cuisine in a Goan home. Explore the 250-year-old mansion – Casa Araujo Alvares. Don’t miss the cunningly angled holes in an upstairs wall, meant for placing rifle barrels and shooting invaders.
Mansion Entry Adults ₹100; Children ₹50 Timings 9.00am-5.30pm, open all days
Ancestral Goa Entry Adults ₹50; Children ₹30 Timings 9.00am-6.00pm, open all days
Menezes-Braganza House
Chandor village is worth a stop for the grand Menezes-Braganza House, a 450-year-old mansion with beautiful old furniture on display, old tapestries, ballrooms, banquet halls and beautiful old floors. The Braganza Pereiras have a 300-year-old chapel which has some intricate carving. However, the most important object is at the altar – a toenail of St Francis Xavier.
WHERE TO STAY
Nanutel (Tel: 0832-6722222; Tariff: ₹4,000-5,200) on Padre Miranda Road is Madgaon’s only 3-star hotel, complete with swimming pool, Utsav Restaurant and Zodiac Bar.
Arco Iris (Cell: 09604964482; Tariff: ₹5,000-7,500) is a heritage homestay located in a quiet village 7 km from Madgaon. Hotel La Flor (Tel: 2731402, 2705682; Tariff: ₹1,050-1,950) on Erasmo Carvalho Street has clean, pretty rooms. Hotel Saaj (Tel: 2712202-03; Tariff: ₹945-2,024), a budget option on the same road is fairly basic.
Goa Woodlands Hotel (Tel: 2715522; Tariff: ₹2,300-3,250), on Miguel Loyola Furtado Road, has a pure vegetarian restaurant.
GTDC’s Madgaon Residency (Tel: 2715528, 2715096; Tariff: ₹1,150-2,650) is opposite Madgaon Municipal Gardens.
WHERE TO EAT
A typical meal at the famous Longuinho’s should be two fried eggs, buttered toast, sickeningly sweet coffee and some excellent chorizo. Nearby, on Miguel Loyola Furtado Road are Kamats and Woodland, both good choices. Raissa’s Oriental Spice, on Rafael Pereira Road, offers Chinese dining in an ‘aristocratic’ ambience. A crooner serenades diners in the high season.
For Goan food that’s super authentic, reserve a table at Nostalgia at Uzro in Raia. Try their tart Goan prawn curry-rice and also sorpotel, complemented perfectly with toddy-leavened sannas.
Café Tato in the Apna Bazaar Complex on Varde Valaulikar Road has south- and north-Indian thalis. Alcove’s Restaurant near Cine Vishant has good butter chicken, pork vindaloo and sorpotel. Other favourites include Meenakshi Restaurant next to Blue Pearl, the old cinema hall, and Gaylin, the Chinese restaurant near Café Tato.
When to go Late October-February Location Goa’s second largest city is at the centre of Salcete Taluka in southern Goa, 33 km from Panjim Air Nearest airport: Dabolim Rail Nearest rail: Madgaon
THE INFORMATION
Tourist Offices
Department of Tourism
1st Floor, Paryatan Bhawan
Patto Plaza, Panjim, Goa
Tel: 0832-2494200
W goatoursim.gov.in
Central Reservations Office
GTDCL, 2nd Floor, Paryatan Bhawan
Patto Plaza, Panjim, Goa
Tel: 2437701, 2438002-03, 2438866
GTDCL
Facilitation Counter
Goa Airport, Dabolim
Tel: 2540829, 2540031
W goa-tourism.com
GTDCL
Opposite Municipal Garden
Madgaon. Tel: 2715528, 2715096
GTDCL
Mapusa Residency
Near bus stand
Calangute – Mapusa Raod
Mapusa
Tel: 2262794/ 694
GTDCL
Vasco Residency
Near Railway Station
Vasco
Tel: 251319, 2511002
Mollem NP
Deputy Conservator of Forests
Wildlife and Eco-Tourism, Panjim
Tel: 0832-2229701
W forest.goa.gov.in
STD Code 0832