Church of Our Lady of the Rosary

Monte Santo's Church of Our Lady of the Rosary looks over the Mandovi River and Divar Island and dates from the 16th century, making it one of the oldest churches in Goa. Tradition holds that Afonso de Albuquerque vowed to build it while watching his troops retake Goa in 1510; a hermitage came first and was later turned into the church. A marble slab fixed to its wall in 1931 by the Archaeological Committee of Goa records the event.

Built of laterite finished with lime mortar, it mixes the Manueline style, seen in twisted-rope mouldings, with Gothic touches. Two towers flank the building, one with a spiral stair to the choir. Inside are two chapels, three altars, a font cut from one granite block, carvings of mangoes and cashews, and the cenotaph of Dona Catarina, wife of Viceroy Garcia de Sá.