Madgaon

Madgaon, or Margao, lies beside the Sal River in the country of Salcete. The town grew around its parish church and the open space before it, a setting shaped by Portuguese rule in Goa. The Jesuits founded the Church of the Holy Spirit in 1564–65, soon after establishing themselves in Salcete. Its early history was troubled: a Bijapuri raid set it on fire in 1571, and another attack damaged it in 1579. The church was rebuilt between 1585 and 1595, enlarged in 1604 and replaced again in the seventeenth century.