Things to Do in Goa

The Ancestral Goa Center, known by locals as the Big Foot Museum for its large foot-shaped dance floor, is one of the main attractions in the Goan village of Loutolim. Local artist Maendra Jocelino Araujo Alvares, the man behind the museum, created the mini nineteenth century Goan village to help preserve the culture and traditions of the region for generations to come.

For visitors unfamiliar with Goan culture, a visit to the Ancestral Goa Center offers a window into some of the area’s unique past times like brewing feni, a local spirit made from coconut or cashew fruit. The museum is also known for housing a giant sculpture of Sant Mirabai, the longest laterite sculpture in India.

If you’re in the area of the Ancestral Goa Center, be sure to pay a visit to the Miranda House, one of Goa’s oldest country homes, and stop in for a Portuguese-Goan lunch at Fernando’s Nostalgia, considered one of the best restaurants anywhere in the state.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus, a church dedicated to the worship of baby Jesus, is also home to the remains of Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron saint and one of the original seven founders of the Jesuit order. The church was erected in Old Goa, the former Portuguese colonial capital, between 1594 and 1605 by Florentine sculptor Giovanni Batista Foggini out of red stone sourced from the area.

The withered remains of the saint, known throughout the Catholic world, are kept in a silver casket housed within an ornate three-tiered marble tomb to the right of the altar. Once every ten years, the church hosts an exhibition of the remains of the body - save for one arm on display in Rome – and they are made visible to the public.

This UNESCO World Heritage site is one of the oldest and most ornate churches in all of India, complete with gold gilded altars and white marble floors inlaid with precious stones.