St. Anthony's Church

St Anthony's Church stands at Marna in Siolim, a working parish church rather than a ticketed monument, and it carries one of North Goa's better-loved origin stories. As the tradition goes, two Portuguese merchants sailing to Goa with a statue of St Anthony were caught in a fierce storm in the Arabian Sea; they vowed that if they survived they would build a church in the saint's honour at the nearest point they reached land. A church dedicated to St Anthony followed near Marna, with roots traced to around 1600, after the Franciscans had first established a church in Siolim in 1568.

The building you see today is early twentieth century: its foundation stone was laid in November 1902 and it was consecrated in December 1907. What makes it notable architecturally is the style — a neo-Gothic treatment that is genuinely rare among Goa's typically Baroque, whitewashed churches — together with an artistically carved teak main altar dedicated to St Anthony, who is depicted with a silver serpent.

As a place to visit, it is a quiet, dignified stop rather than a headline attraction: worth pairing with a wander around old Siolim, and at its liveliest around the feast of St Anthony in June. Visitors should treat it as an active place of worship, dress modestly and keep quiet during Mass.

For those looking at Siolim as a place to live, the church is part of the village's old-world character — a leafy, well-established North Goa locality where Avacasa lists 19 homes across 6 developers. Most Goa homes are listed price-on-request; across the wider North Goa cluster, prices reach a median of about ₹3.6 crore.