The Chapel Of St. Catherine in Goa

Further to the west of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi is the chapel of St. Catherine.

Built of laterite blocks it has a tower on either side of the façade.

The chapel in the interior, having only one altar is plain.

Construction of The Chapel
The chapel was rebuilt in 1552 on the remains of an earlier structure, built in 1510 by Afonso de Albuquerque to commemorate his entry into the city on St. Catherine's Day.

The earlier chapel was enlarged in 1550 by the Governor George Cabral, who put up an inscribed slab, which when translated, reads as follows:

"Here in this place was the doorway through which Governor Afonso de Albuquerque entered and took this city from the Mohammadans on the day of St. Catherine in the year 1510 at the expenses of his Highness."

Thus the chapel was built on the spot where stood the gates of this city under the Muslim rule.

This chapel was raised to the state of the cathedral by Pope Paul III by a Bull issued in 1534 and it remained so till the new Cathedral was constructed.

General Information

Location
Old Goa, Panjim, Goa.