Friday, October 31, 2014
After visiting the Rachol Fort. We decided to visit the Rachol Seminary.
We were first hesitant whether we should go in or not, as we were wearing shorts. When one of the locals informed us about underground dungeons. Underground Dungeons in Church premises a fact little bit difficult to digest and so we headed to see it. Had anyone stopped us on our dress code, we had planned to say that we were passing by, so just stopped by to pay it a visit. We are tourist. Who would like to be a tourist in his own country?
The Rachol Seminary is one of the biggest Seminary in Goa. It is also called Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol. It is called Seminário de Rachol in Portuguese and Raiturchi Patriarkal Siminar in Konkanni.
The premises houses a beautiful garden in front of the Church, the new seminary building and of course the old seminary building. Note that all the three structures are white in color.
In fact all Churches and Chapels in Goa are painted white, except for a few in Old Goa.
The Church was under renovation. The renovation was being conducted by ASI i.e Archaeological survey of India. Though the Church is open to public, we couldn't take any snaps there as the workers were busy restoring it. The premises was filled with bamboo scaffolding. It was dark and also dusty to add to it. What snaps should I take now? I better come back when it is restored so take some good snaps.
All that stood in the church is the Reredos and the Pulpit. Both were painted golden in color with a few statues nearby. There were no pews in the church.
On the first level stood the musical instruments covered under a sheet. One of the musical instruments being a piano and the other a windpipe for voice modulations.
We then followed one of the workers who was working on setting up the roof, a narrow stone spiral staircase led us to the top. The staircase was so narrow that I had problems while climbing up and down. We finally reached the Church Bell and then the top. The top offers a very beautiful view of the place. Again we had to do a lot of balancing up there due to the repair work, so we couldn't take photos.
At the Entrance of the Old Seminary there is a small photo frame informing about the history of it. It was built around 1609 to 1611.
We then started walking around the the old seminary building. The old seminary building is in the shape of a square with a two badminton courts in the middle surrounded by chickoo trees and other vegetation.
We then met up with one of the Brothers there. A Brother is a person who is in the process of becoming a Priest. He showed us around in the Seminary.
The Walls of the Seminary have got paintings of Priests. Some of the paintings were visible, others were not so visible. Again their identities were missing. As per the Brother even he was not aware as to who they were.
The Old Seminary was a storey tall which is still occupied by Priests and Brothers. Best part is all the four sides are identical. So you will feel like you have seen it , but you haven't.
Photography is not allowed in the premises so I couldn't take photos here. The Seminary all houses a collection of old coins and crockery along with a unique photo frame structure.
The Brother should us around the entire Seminary. He then took us to the top most point of the Seminary from where we could see a beautiful view of Shiroda, the Zuari River, the fields and the hills in a distance on a rainy day. There was a brown patch of land, where some guys were playing football. A per Brother they are all Brothers who are playing football there, as it is a source of exercise for them. He also told me that they even plough fields here along with fruit plantations. The place houses both Mango, Chickoo and Coconut trees along with a couple of vegetable plantations.
We then asked him about the underground dungeons, as that was the reason why we landed there. He informed us that they are below the badminton courts.
He came with us to the court, there are two opening to lead to the dungeon, but as it was around 5:30 PM on my watch and it was getting darker we didn't go in. He informed us that there is no lighting in there and that we need a very good torch to go in there, plus to add to it, it is occupied by bats and snakes. So going in there was not a smart thing.
On the badminton court, there are small grilled openings from where we see inside i.e below, water is filled in it and it is so deep down, so I can imagine how deep is this place.
We then thanked Brother for showing us around in the premises. This was his last year, come 2015 , he would be a Priest. A matter of great honor for his family and also for him to serve the Lord.
We were first hesitant whether we should go in or not, as we were wearing shorts. When one of the locals informed us about underground dungeons. Underground Dungeons in Church premises a fact little bit difficult to digest and so we headed to see it. Had anyone stopped us on our dress code, we had planned to say that we were passing by, so just stopped by to pay it a visit. We are tourist. Who would like to be a tourist in his own country?
The Rachol Seminary is one of the biggest Seminary in Goa. It is also called Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol. It is called Seminário de Rachol in Portuguese and Raiturchi Patriarkal Siminar in Konkanni.
The premises houses a beautiful garden in front of the Church, the new seminary building and of course the old seminary building. Note that all the three structures are white in color.
In fact all Churches and Chapels in Goa are painted white, except for a few in Old Goa.
The Church was under renovation. The renovation was being conducted by ASI i.e Archaeological survey of India. Though the Church is open to public, we couldn't take any snaps there as the workers were busy restoring it. The premises was filled with bamboo scaffolding. It was dark and also dusty to add to it. What snaps should I take now? I better come back when it is restored so take some good snaps.
All that stood in the church is the Reredos and the Pulpit. Both were painted golden in color with a few statues nearby. There were no pews in the church.
On the first level stood the musical instruments covered under a sheet. One of the musical instruments being a piano and the other a windpipe for voice modulations.
We then followed one of the workers who was working on setting up the roof, a narrow stone spiral staircase led us to the top. The staircase was so narrow that I had problems while climbing up and down. We finally reached the Church Bell and then the top. The top offers a very beautiful view of the place. Again we had to do a lot of balancing up there due to the repair work, so we couldn't take photos.
At the Entrance of the Old Seminary there is a small photo frame informing about the history of it. It was built around 1609 to 1611.
We then started walking around the the old seminary building. The old seminary building is in the shape of a square with a two badminton courts in the middle surrounded by chickoo trees and other vegetation.
We then met up with one of the Brothers there. A Brother is a person who is in the process of becoming a Priest. He showed us around in the Seminary.
The Walls of the Seminary have got paintings of Priests. Some of the paintings were visible, others were not so visible. Again their identities were missing. As per the Brother even he was not aware as to who they were.
The Old Seminary was a storey tall which is still occupied by Priests and Brothers. Best part is all the four sides are identical. So you will feel like you have seen it , but you haven't.
Photography is not allowed in the premises so I couldn't take photos here. The Seminary all houses a collection of old coins and crockery along with a unique photo frame structure.
The Brother should us around the entire Seminary. He then took us to the top most point of the Seminary from where we could see a beautiful view of Shiroda, the Zuari River, the fields and the hills in a distance on a rainy day. There was a brown patch of land, where some guys were playing football. A per Brother they are all Brothers who are playing football there, as it is a source of exercise for them. He also told me that they even plough fields here along with fruit plantations. The place houses both Mango, Chickoo and Coconut trees along with a couple of vegetable plantations.
We then asked him about the underground dungeons, as that was the reason why we landed there. He informed us that they are below the badminton courts.
He came with us to the court, there are two opening to lead to the dungeon, but as it was around 5:30 PM on my watch and it was getting darker we didn't go in. He informed us that there is no lighting in there and that we need a very good torch to go in there, plus to add to it, it is occupied by bats and snakes. So going in there was not a smart thing.
On the badminton court, there are small grilled openings from where we see inside i.e below, water is filled in it and it is so deep down, so I can imagine how deep is this place.
We then thanked Brother for showing us around in the premises. This was his last year, come 2015 , he would be a Priest. A matter of great honor for his family and also for him to serve the Lord.
