St. Anthony's Church

The Christian history of Siolim goes back to the Franciscans, who established the village's first church in 1568, dedicated to Mãe de Deus (the Mother of God). A church with St Anthony as its patron is traced to around 1600, at Marna to the west of the village, and it is bound up with the well-known legend of two Portuguese merchants who, caught in a life-threatening storm while carrying a statue of St Anthony to Goa, vowed to build a church in his honour if they survived and reached land safely.

The present structure is much more recent than that origin. Its foundation stone was laid in November 1902 and the church was consecrated on 28 December 1907, giving Siolim the substantial early-twentieth-century church that stands today. Over four centuries, then, the site has moved from a vow and a modest early church to the large parish church that anchors the village now.

St Anthony's is first and foremost the living parish church of Siolim, at the centre of village religious life rather than a museum piece. Its calendar peaks with the feast of St Anthony of Padua: although the saint's feast day is 13 June, the parish traditionally celebrates on the following Sunday, preceded by the 'Trezenas' — thirteen days of preparatory Masses. The feast is the church's biggest gathering of the year and a fixture of the local community's identity.

Beyond the parish, the church is one of the recognisable landmarks of Siolim and a natural point of interest for visitors exploring the older, inland heart of the village, away from the beaches. Its origin legend and its unusual architecture give it a stronger sense of story than many village churches, even if it is not on the well-trodden Old Goa heritage circuit.

The church's most distinctive feature is its style. Where most Goan churches are Baroque and whitewashed, St Anthony's was built in a neo-Gothic manner that is genuinely uncommon in the state — a point local writers regularly single out. Inside, the highlight is the main altar: an artistically carved teak-wood altar dedicated to St Anthony, who is depicted holding, or set with, a serpent rendered in silver, a distinctive touch that sets this church's imagery apart. Taken together, the Gothic-leaning form and the carved teak interior make the building worth a look for anyone interested in Goan church architecture beyond the famous Baroque examples. As it is an active church, interiors are best viewed respectfully and outside of Mass times.