Goa Cathedral
The Goa Cathedral (Portuguese Catedral de Goa ), also known as Sé de Santa Catarina , on Konkani Bhagevont Katerinachi Katedral , is a Roman Catholic cathedral in honor of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in the Indian city of Velha Goa . The cathedral is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Ensemble " Churches and Monasteries of Goa " (see World Heritage in India ). The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman .
The cathedral, built between 1562 and around 1651/51, was supposed to express the claim to power, the wealth and the reputation of the Portuguese colonial empire through its magnificent architecture .
history
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Afonso de Albuquerque had the first chapel built after defeating the Sultanate of Bijapur and taking Goa in 1510. The victory was celebrated on November 25, 1510, the day of Saint Catherine , so that the first chapel got its name ( Capela de Santa Catarina ).
To express the Portuguese colonial empire's claim to rule over Goa (and Portuguese India ), colonial governor Jorge Cabral asked in 1552 for a large cathedral to be built in the city. King Sebastian of Portugal complied with this request in 1562, after the Archdiocese of Goa had become a Metropolitan Archdiocese. Construction began in 1564 and continued until at least 1651–52. The cathedral replaced the previous church (also called Antiga Matriz de Velha Goa or Igreja de Santa Catarina ).
The individual construction steps are difficult to follow retrospectively. António Nunes Perreira writes that one of the towers was built between 1597 and 1600, the main work on the church building was completed in 1619. In 1631 the cathedral - apart from the artistic design - was already finished.
It is just as difficult to understand which architect or builder was responsible for the construction. According to Perreira, the art historian attributes the design primarily to Inofre de Carvalho , who worked between 1538 and 1568. Pedro Dias, according to Perreira, attributes the design to the chief engineer of the Portuguese kingdom ( Ingenheiro-mor do Reino ), Júlio Simão , who worked for the kingdom between 1596 and 1621. Simão is buried in the cathedral, not far from the altar.
In 1932, still under the Portuguese rule of Goa, the cathedral was recognized by the Portuguese government as a "national monument" (Monumento Nacional). In 1986, UNESCO classified the church as part of the “Monasteries and Churches of Goa” ensemble as a World Heritage Site . In the Portuguese monument database Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico , which also includes monuments of former Portuguese colonies, the cathedral is registered with the number 11431. The cathedral is registered with the number N-GA-2 in the database of the Archaeological Survey of India .
architecture
The architectural style of the cathedral follows that of Mannerism , which was particularly widespread in the Portuguese colonial empire at the time. While the exterior is shaped by a Tuscan order , the interior follows that of the Corinthian order . The three naves of the church are 76 meters long, 55 meters high, the front spike is 35 meters high. The floor plan corresponds to the classic church cross .
The facade of the church has three entrance gates. The church originally had two steeples, left and right of the facade. The right one was destroyed in a storm in 1766 and has not been rebuilt since then. The entire building was built from laterite and later whitewashed. Only individual facade elements, such as the gates, the windows and the aedicula, are made of granite, which was specially brought from Vasai ( Portuguese Baçaim ).
Despite the long construction period, the architectural design of the cathedral is consistently formally and stylistically coherent. The Portuguese influence in architecture is particularly evident in the structure of the church and the choice of two towers directly on the facade - the church thus follows other Portuguese cathedrals of this time, such as the cathedral of Miranda do Douro (construction started in 1552), Leiria (1559 -1574) and Portalegre (1556-1575). In contrast to the model of the “Alentejan Church”, the cathedral corresponds to the architectural language of the European Renaissance.
The cathedral is also a symbol of the connection between power and religion of the Portuguese colonial empire and the manifestation of it in the Portuguese colonization in Asia. The dimension of the church should symbolize the power of the colonial empire and thus “impress” the local population of the occupied areas. Furthermore, the location of the church - no longer recognizable today due to the loss of the old town - was decisive: The cathedral is located in a former square on the south side of which was the Palácio do Sabaio , the former residence of the governors and vice-kings of Goa. The residence also housed the Church's Inquisition, following its inauguration in Goa in 1560.
inner space
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The church consists of three naves in the form of a hall church with barrel vaults , with a high choir and side chapels as well as a transept and a pronounced apse at the end of the main nave. The crossing is marked by arches.
The only remaining tower - the other was destroyed in 1766 and not rebuilt - has a large bell, which is also known as the "gold bell" (Portuguese Sino de Ouro ) due to its full sound . The main altar is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, above the apse there is also a large golden altarpiece . On the right side of the transept is the Chapel of the Cross of Miracles (port. Capela da Cruz dos Milagres ), in which there is said to have been an apparition of Christ in 1919.
The cathedral is also adorned with six large wall paintings depicting scenes from the life of Saint Catherine. The cathedral also has a large baptismal font from 1532, which St. Francis Xavier is said to have used to baptize numerous converted Goeses.
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g António Nunes Pereira: Sé Metropolitana de Goa e Damão. In: Património de Influência Portuguesa (HPIP). Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, July 18, 2012, accessed October 30, 2017 (Portuguese).
- ↑ a b c d e Sofia Diniz, Manuel Apóstolo: Catedral de Goa / Igreja de Santa Catarina da Alexandria. In: Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico. 2010, accessed October 30, 2017 (Portuguese).
Coordinates: 15 ° 30 ′ 13.8 ″ N , 73 ° 54 ′ 46.5 ″ E