Church of St. Anne, Talaulim

The Church of St Anne stands at Santana in Talaulim, Old Goa, and is a major example of the colonial Baroque architecture of Portuguese India. Building began under Monsignor Francisco de Rego and was completed in 1695 by his successor, Fr Antonio Francisco da Cunha. In 1931 the Portuguese declared it a national monument, but after 1961, when the ASI took over other Old Goa monuments, it was overlooked and fell into a precarious state. With backing from the World Monument Foundation and the Goa government, its foundations were strengthened and urgent repairs carried out in 2007.

Legend says that during construction a villager, Bartholomeu Marchon, saw an elderly woman with a hat and staff come down the nearby hill and declare that the church would be her home, and a gravely ill Brahmin woman was cured by a similar apparition and became a Christian. The priest read this as a sign and dedicated the church to her. A relief high in the transept shows her with staff and hat.