If you are walking around the Panjim town and specially in core part of the town, it's hard to miss this beautiful church standing high on a platform and visible from main roads going towards Casinos or the road connecting with Fountainhas. The Church is known as Immaculate Conception Church and it shines beautiful in the evening. During my recent visit to Goa, we were crossing through this part of the town during blue hour and the church was looking stunning.
Immaculate Conception Church is located in Panjim and is located on top of a hill facing the square below. The city's municipal garden is close to it and can be seen from the top of the hill. Immaculate Conception has a distinctive exteriors. The steps that zigzag across the hillside add a different vibe to Immaculate Conception.
This colonial Portuguese Baroque style church was first built in 1541 as a chapel on a hill side overlooking the city of Panjim, which is a bustling area now with glittering lights on casinos on one side and a street full of showrooms. The Chapel was eventually replaced by a larger church in the 1600s as part of Portuguese Goa's religious expansion. Immaculate Conception Church houses the ancient bell that was removed from the Augustinian ruins of the Church of Our Lady of Grace in the once famed city of Old Goa. This bell is considered to be the second largest of its kind in Goa, surpassed only by the Golden Bell which resides in the Se Cathedral in Old Goa.
The exterior facade of the Immaculate Conception Church, rich with Portuguese Baroque style architectural elements is painted a bright white to signify the Immaculate virgin, Mary. The imposing facade is distinctive with its two towers and centrally placed taller belfry. It can be seen from a great distance and is also often known as the ‘crown’ of Panjim.
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