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Basilica of Bom Jesus
📍 Church📍 Heritage📍 Pilgrimage

Basilica of Bom Jesus

Old Goa, Goa, India

4.6 (0)
Overview

Old Goa's baroque crown and India's most famous church — laterite walls, a gilded high altar and the silver casket holding the miraculously incorrupt body of St Francis Xavier, displayed to millions at each decennial exposition. UNESCO World Heritage.

Why visit: Four centuries of living faith and the finest baroque interior in Asia.

History: Consecrated in 1605; the Apostle of the Indies' remains arrived in 1554 and public expositions have been held since 1782 (most recently 2024–25).

Things to do
  • ›See St Francis Xavier's silver reliquary casket
  • ›Study the gilded reredos of St Ignatius
  • ›Cross to Se Cathedral and its Golden Bell
  • ›Walk the Old Goa UNESCO ensemble
Heritage WalkArchitecturePilgrimage
Location & MapDirections
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Travel Information

Best time

Nov–Feb

Entry fee

Free

Hours

9 am–6:30 pm (Sun from 10:30)

Est. budget

₹0–300

Duration

2–3 hrs

Nearby attractions

Within
0.2 km
🛕 Religious
4.6

Se Cathedral, Old Goa

Old Goa, Goa

Asia's largest church — 76 years in the building for the Portuguese golden age, with the 'miraculous' Cross of Miracles and the great Golden Bell.

Nov–Mar1–2 hrsExplore
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St Cajetan & Old Goa Riverside

Old Goa, Goa

A little St Peter's of Rome on the Mandovi — corinthian dome, the sealed 'well' of a Hindu tank beneath, and the lone Viceroy's Arch by the ghat.

Nov–Mar1–2 hrsExplore
0.6 km
🏛️ Historical
4.4

St Augustine Tower & Nunnery Ruins

Old Goa, Goa

The 46-m broken finger of a vanished 1602 church — Goa's most romantic ruin on Holy Hill, beside St Monica's convent and the Museum of Christian Art.

Nov–Mar; golden hour1–2 hrsExplore
1.3 km
💎 Hidden Gem🌄 Viewpoint
4.3

Our Lady of the Mount, Old Goa

Old Goa, Goa

The hilltop chapel where Albuquerque watched his 1510 battle — now the finest overview of Old Goa's domes and the Mandovi, concert-lit each Monte festival.

Nov–Mar; Monte Music Festival (Feb)1–2 hrsExplore
2.5 km
💎 Hidden Gem📍 Cultural
4.5

Divar Island

Old Goa, Goa

The Mandovi's time-capsule island — ferry-only access, whitewashed Piedade hill church, empty paddies and August's flag-waving Bonderam festival.

Nov–Mar; Bonderam (Aug)Half–full dayExplore
2.9 km
💎 Hidden Gem🐅 Wildlife
4.0

Carambolim Lake & Rail Wetlands

Old Goa, Goa

A lotus-quilted tank beside the Konkan rail line where whistling ducks raft in thousands — Old Goa's birding secret.

Nov–Feb2–3 hrsExplore
4 km
💎 Hidden Gem📍 Cultural
4.1

St Estevam Island & Viewpoint

St Estevam, Goa

The 'island of green chillies' — a whitewashed hill church, fort-knoll panorama over paddies and the Mandovi's calmest village lanes.

Nov–MarHalf dayExplore
4 km
💎 Hidden Gem🐅 Wildlife
4.2

Cumbarjua Canal Crocodile Safari

Cumbarjua, Goa

Muggers basking on brackish banks between the Mandovi and Zuari — canoe safaris past mangrove crocodiles worshipped at the annual Mannge Thapnee.

Nov–Mar; low tideHalf dayExplore
4.7 km
💎 Hidden Gem🛕 Religious
4.3

Saptakoteshwar Temple, Narve

Bicholim, Goa

The Kadamba royal deity rebuilt by Shivaji himself in 1668 — a European-dome shrine in betel-palm country across from Divar's old temple site.

Oct–Mar; Gokulashtami2–3 hrsExplore
5.3 km
💎 Hidden Gem📍 Nature
4.1

Salim Ali Dawn Canoe & Ribandar Causeway

Ribandar, Goa

The 1633 Ponte de Linhares — one of the oldest causeways in Asia — running Panaji to Old Goa past salt pans, herons and canoe put-ins.

Nov–Mar; dawn2–3 hrsExplore
5.7 km
🐅 Wildlife
4.3

Chorao Island & Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary

Chorao, Goa

Mangrove boardwalks and canoe channels on the Mandovi's greenest island — mudskippers, kingfishers by the dozen and egret dawns.

Nov–Mar; low tide morningsHalf dayExplore
6.4 km
💎 Hidden Gem🛕 Religious
4.1

Pilar Seminary & Zuari Viewpoint

Pilar, Goa

A 1613 hilltop seminary over the Zuari — Fr Agnelo's shrine, a museum of Kadamba finds and the harbour panorama toward Mormugao.

Nov–Mar2 hrsExplore