The city was founded in the 15th century as a port on the banks of the
Mandovi river by the rulers of the
Bijapur Sultanate. It was built to replace Govapuri, which lay a few kilometres to the south and had been used as a port by the
Kadamba and
Vijayanagar kings. Old Goa was the second capital after
Bijapur of the rule of
Adil Shahi Dynasty. It was surrounded by a moat and contained the
shah's palace,
mosques, and
temples. The city was
captured by the Portuguese and was under
Portuguese rule from 1510 as the administrative seat of
Portuguese India. The viceroy's residence was transferred in 1759 to the future capital,
Panjim (a village about 9 kilometres to its west). Few remnants, if any, of the pre-Portuguese period remain at Old Goa. During the mid-16th century, the Portuguese colony of Goa, especially Velha Goa, was the center of
Christianisation in the East. The city was evangelized by all religious orders, since all of them had their headquarters there. The population was roughly 200,000 by 1543. Malaria and cholera epidemics ravaged the city in the 17th century and it was largely abandoned, only having a remaining population of 1,500 in 1775. It was then that the viceroy moved to Panjim. It continued to be the
de jure capital of Goa until 1843, when the capital was shifted to Panjim (Ponnjê in Konkani, Nova Goa in Portuguese and Panaji in Hindi). The abandoned city came to be known as "Velha Goa" (in Portuguese, 'Old Goa'), to distinguish it from the new capital Nova Goa (
Panjim) and probably also
Goa Velha (also meaning "Old Goa"), which was the Portuguese name for the town on the old site of Govapuri. Velha Goa was incorporated into the Republic of India after its
annexation in 1961, with the rest of Goa. It retains its religious significance in modern-day Goa, notably in its relations with Roman Catholicism. The Archbishop of Goa and Daman holds title as the
Patriarch of the East Indies. Unlike the
patriarchs and the
major archbishops of the
Eastern Catholic Churches, the Patriarch of the East Indies only enjoys honorary title and is fully subject to the
Pope. He has a place in the
Latin Church similar to the
Patriarchs of Venice and
Lisbon. This title was conferred upon the Archbishop of Goa as part of a settlement between the
Holy See and the
Portuguese government concerning the link between religious and political aspects of its territories. ==Churches of Old Goa==