St Augustine Tower

The St Augustine Tower is the most dramatic ruin in Old Goa, all that remains of the great Church of St Augustine. The church was built by Augustinian friars and completed in 1602, and was one of the largest in Goa. After the religious orders were suppressed in Portugal's territories in 1835, the church was abandoned, and its vault and facade later collapsed. Only one of its four towers survives, rising about 46 metres above the hill. The church's great bell was moved and now hangs in the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Panaji. Archaeological work at the site found relics believed to be those of the Georgian queen St Ketevan, linking the ruin to Georgian history. Visitors can wander among the remains of the nave, chapels and convent. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Churches and Convents of Goa and is worth the trip for its haunting, monumental scale.