Goa Places
to See
Vasco-da-Gama
The
area came under Portuguese rule around 1543, and within a few years, it was
transformed into one of western India's busiest ports. The Portuguese built
a fort at Sada, near the tip of the land jutting into the Arabian sea. This
allowed them to effectively control the movement of ships into the Zuari river.
The fort had its most glorious moment in 1685, when Old Goa came under attack
from King Sambhaji of the Marathas and the Portuguese moved women, children
and other non-combatants here for safe keeping. The fort was abandoned soon
after, despite plans to make Mormugao the capital of the Portuguese colony of
Goa, and today only some remnants of the ramparts can be seen.
At the base of the ruins of Sada fort, there is a small but beautiful beach
which can be reached via steps leading down the steep cliffside. The beach remains
pretty isolated fro most of the day except for a few locals who venture down
for a dip in the sea. There is also a fresh-water spring in the hillside which
has a constant flow of water round the year.
The main town of Vasco is well laid out pretty much in a straight line along
parallel roads interlinked by small bylanes. There is hardly any landmark worth
making a visit to Vasco, except for the 400-year old St. Andrews Church which
lies at the entrance to the city. In recent times, the city has been attracting
local visitors, to what is easily the best cinema theatre in the whole of Goa.
The port of Mormugao,
around
one of India's few natural harbours, lies 4 kms from the city centre and the
only airport in the state, the Goa Airport at Dabolim, is also about 4 kms from
the city. Vasco also has a railway terminus for passenger trains to nearby areas
outside Goa and more importantly a daily service which takes tourists to the
magnificent Dudhsagar waterfalls near the state border.
There are two beaches near the city. The bigger and the more famous is the Bogmalo
beach which is about 8 kms south-east of the town and the smaller one named
Hollant lies just about halfway along the same road. Bogmalo beach has luxury
and mid-range hotels in the neighbourhood along with quite a few shacks where
you can sample some tasty sea-food dishes.
Along this same road to the Bogmalo beach is located the Naval Air Museum, the
only one of its kind in the whole of Asia. It has on display, some of the fighter
aircraft which have done duty for India in its conflicts with the enemy.
Vasco-da-Gama is a key shipping centre, very important for the economy of Goa,
which has a large number of mines in its interiors. The Mormugao port handles
heavy traffic of container vessels and iron ore barges carrying ores and minerals
to countries such as Japan and Korea.
How
to Reach Vasco da Gama
