This installment of Panjim Promenade puts the spotlight on Tobacco Square (Largo do Estanco in Portuguese). The Tobacco Square is bounded by the General Post Office, the São Tomé chapel and Casa da Moeda. What is now the General Post Office originally started out as a depot for trading tobacco whence the name of the…
The village of Reis Magos in Goa‘s Bardez taluka is exquisitely located on the waterline across the bay from Panjim, and is named after the three biblical Magi Kings. Among its treasures are the eponymous church and fort. The beautiful Church of Reis Magos, built in 1555, is among Goa‘s oldest. Symbols in bas relief…
Legend has it that a group of sages on the island of Divar in Goa undertook penance to propitiate Shiva. It took seven crore (sapta-kot) years for the Great Yogi to take notice of their exertions. When He finally showed up, the sages petitioned Him to take up residence in the village of Naroa (also…
The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saúde (Our Lady of Health) in the village of Sancoale, Goa, was built in 1606 and destroyed in a fire in 1834. All that remains today is the shell of its façade. It enjoys a delightful setting by the Zuari river, and the ruins provide clues to what must…
Hallgrímskirkja was built in 1937 and is a Reykjavík landmark. Architect Guðjón Samúelsson patterned its façade after the basaltic lava columns that are common in Iceland. The first two photographs were taken close to midnight in the beautiful light of the low summer sun. Maintaining the verticals of such a tall structure is made possible…
