Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception stands on a hillside above the square in Panjim, Goa. A chapel was built here in 1541 for Portuguese sailors making their first landfall in India, when Panjim was still a fishing hamlet; parish status followed in 1600, and in 1609 the present church replaced the chapel. Its zigzag stairways date from the 18th century, and in 1871 a great bell from the ruined Augustinian monastery in Old Goa, the second largest in Goa, was hung in its belfry.

The bright white Portuguese Baroque façade, with two towers and a taller central belfry, can be seen from far off and is often called the crown of Panjim. Inside, the cruciform church has a main altar to the Virgin flanked by gilded altars of the Crucifixion and Our Lady of the Rosary, beside marble figures of Saints Peter and Paul. Masses are held daily in English, Konkani and Portuguese, and the 8 December feast brings lights and a fair.