IN-144297 Se Cathedral in Goa, India

The Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina, known as Se Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and the seat of the Patriarch of the East Indies. The cathedral is located in Old Goa, India and it is the largest church in India. Se Cathdral is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. It is one of the oldest and most celebrated religious buildings in Goa.

Se Cathedral was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese under Afonso de Albuquerque over a Muslim army, leading to the capture of the city of Goa in 1510. Since the day of the victory happened to be on the feast of Saint Catherine, the cathedral was dedicated to her.

In 1953, the Cathedral was presented with "The Golden Rose" by Pope Pius XII. The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which the Popes have traditionally blessed and conferred as a token of reverence or affection. It is presently placed on the tomb of St. Francis Xavier.

The architecture style of the Se Cathedral is Portuguese-Manueline. The exterior is Tuscan, whereas the interior is Corinthian. The church is 250 feet (76 m) in length and 181 feet (55 m) in breadth. The frontispiece stands 115 feet (35 m) high. It originally had two towers, but one collapsed in 1776 and was never rebuilt.

This postcard came from Zeel (1 July 2015) Postcrossing.