Not far away from Se Cathedral, stands the beautiful whitewashed Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which today houses part of the archaeological museum. It was built in 1521 and were built by the early Christian missionaries that came to Goa in the 1500s.

Exhibits include prehistoric items from a distant tribal past as also reminders of Goa Dourada or Golden Goa, also known as the 'Pearl of the Orient' or 'Rome of the East' during its heydays.

It was the concentration of magnificent churches, symbol of a powerful conquering presence, which justified this last title.

In fact, the Church of St. Cajatan, built by an Italian architect in 1651, was modeled in miniature on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Today a theological college is housed here.

The church built of laterite is lime plastered. The doorway is Manueline style and the facade is flanked by octagonal towers on either side. A recess in the wall holds the statue of Our lady of Miracles (transported from Jaffna in Sri Lanka). On the pedestal bearing the sign of Fransiscans stands a wooden statue of St. Francis.

The church is open for the public from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm except on Sundays and the museum is open 9 am to 12:30 pm and 3 pm to 6:30 pm.

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