Information on St. Augustine Tower (Goa) - History & Architecture

The St. Augustine Tower or St. Augustine Church is one of the ancient cathedrals of Goa. It was created in the year 1602 AD by twelve Augustinian monks. Miserably at present, the church along with the adjoining convent have become ruins owing to the prohibition on religious instructionsdelivered by the Portuguese government. The only significant remains of St. Augustine Church is a tall tower without the church bell.

St. Augustine Tower Architecture

The ruins of St. Augustine Tower is a five storied curvedconstruction created of laterite which formed a portion of the frontage of St. AugustineChurch. The ruins of St. Augustine Tower is one of the four towers of St. Augustine Church. The church possessed richly decoratedoratories and four alters along with a nunnery with various compartments. The remnants of oratories, alters and extensive compartments are also observed around the tower. There was a bell in the tower of St. Augustine Church which was first positioned in a fort named, 'Aguada Light House' where it persisted from 1841 AD to 1871 AD. Ultimately, the bell was positioned in St. Augustine Church in the year 1871.

St. Augustine Church had expansive roof which collapsed during the period of 1842 AD to 1846 AD. Initially, the church was a three storeyed building, having two large stone made stairway which directed to the top floors. Inside the church, there was number of convents, passageways, columns, galleries, halls and rooms. There was also a dining hall, guest room and sanatorium inside the church which was quite expansive. St. Augustine Church also had vast residences and numerous cells along with other structures which are now becomes ruins. It was said that through the construction of the church, the roof was collapsed two times. In the third time, in order to test the constancy of the roof, a hefty cannon was set at the building. Luckily, the roof of the church endured the shock of the cannon.

St. Augustine Tower History

The history of the creation of St. Augustine Church was based on the order given by Augustinian monks who arrived in Goa in the year 1572. Initially they created a small monastery on the divinehillside and at later phase the monastery was enlarged.Nevertheless, in the year 1835, the church was abandoned because of eviction of religious orders given by the Portuguese government. In the year 1846, the main roof of St. Augustine Church collapsed and the monasteryquicklyperished. The valuable objects which belonged to the religious church were either sold or lost during time. At present, several discrete objects of St. Augustine Church can be observed in other churches of Goa. The bell from the tower from St. Augustine Church was at first taken to Aguada Fort and in the year 1871, the bell was moved to 'Church of Our Lady' in Panaji. According to history, St. Augustine Church was occupied by Augustinian monks till 1835. Afterwards, it was abandoned which resulted in fractional demolition and natural deterioration of the church. Eventually in the year 1938, the 46 meter tall towers of the church also fell. At present,only one tower of the five storeyconstruction has been preserved.

St. Augustine Tower Tourism Importance

Although a ruin, St. Augustine Tower still has its magnificence for the tourists. The view of the ruined tower look unquestionably splendid and is regarded as a great place to visit. Due to its exclusive history and attraction, the ruins of St. Augustine Tower is also observed to be visited by several travellers from the entire world.