Returning to the convent

The Augustinian convent at Old Goa was closed down in 1835 and all its property confiscated by the state. Most of the religious artefacts – statues, crosses, retables, choirs, pipe-organs, etc – were acquired by smaller churches in Goa. For a brief period, the convent was reused as a Hospital; however, it proved too costly to maintain. It later came under military authority but was never reoccupied. In 1846, the huge stone vault of the church collapsed. This led to the fast decay of the whole convent. In the 1930s, very little was left standing except for the main façade and its right-hand side tower. At this time, the members of the Archaeological Committee of Goa started to clear the vegetation and debris within the ruins of the church. They also “saved” some of the church’s glazed tiles by removing them and reaffixing them in other churches. The clearing of debris, vegetation and entangled roots near the main façade caused its collapse. Only a portion of the tower still remains, stoically resisting the ravages of time.