• Panjim was one of thirty small islets (ward) comprising the now identified Taluka ‘TISWADI” (Thirty Wards).

• The Secretariat at Panaji was the Summer Palace of the Adilshah of Bijapur and the building existing behind it (at the present Dir. Of Accounts) was his harem, supposedly connected by a tunnel between both these buildings.

• The Municipal Council in Goa was first established at Old Goa in the year 1511 and later shifted to Panaji in 1845, when the capital was shifted here. It can be referred as the oldest Municipality in the entire East.

• Panaji was just a port and the main village was Taleigao.

• The official entrance to Panaji City was through the Four Pillars between Mala and the village of St. Cruz.

• The canon kept near the Forest Department Park at Campal is called as the “Canon from Banastarim Fort”. The original crest of the fort is still found on the canon. No trace of the Banastarim Fort, near Old Goa, exists, except the stairs, which cannot be corroborated.

• The open square in front of the G.P.O was called as ‘Largo de Tabago” or the Tobacco Square, as the main trade of this area was import & export of tobacco.

• In the year 1952, the first bus was introduced in Goa by Xamba Phaterpekar. This bus ran on the route from the hamlet across Panaji - Betim to Mapusa.

• Before the concept of city buses, Panaji had horse driven carriages or “ Victoria’s”.

• The house with arched pavement, opposite the G. P. O was the Mint of the Portuguese Government.

• Around the year 1950, Hotel Imperial (RIO) was constructed. This was the first two storeyed building in Panaji.

• The Public Astronomical Observatory is located on the 7 th Floor of Junta House and is open for public from November to May between 7.30 PM to 9.30 PM.

• The Goa Medical College, founded in 1842, is Asia’soldest MedicalSchool and was called as ESCOLA MEDICO CIRURGICA DE NOVA GOA.

• The first Dean of Goa Medical College after liberation was Dr. Pacheco Figuereido.

• The statue opposite the General Post Office is that of Gen.____ Dias, the 1 st Dean of Goa medical College.

• Ms. Jeonna Lucinda Pinto was the first Goan Girl to become a Doctor in 1910-1914 from GMC.

• The first Hindu Girl to become a Doctor from GMC was Ms. Yamunabai Mulgaonkar in 1952.

• The first Pharmacy Course student to pass out in 1846 was Mr. Cosme Damiano Peres.

• The Portuguese name of the culvert bridge behind old Goa medical College was “Ponte Minerva”.

• The Portuguese name of the culvert bridge near the Military Hospital St. Inez is “Ponte de Portugal”.

• Panaji City is connected to the North of Goa by two parallel Bridges – The Nehru Bridge & The Mandovi Bridge.

• 31 st January Road was named after the liberation of Portugal from Spain on 31 st January 1640.

• The original name of the Ribandar - Panaji Causeway is “Ponte de Linhares” and the name is also extended to the Old Pato Bridge. It is so named as it was built during the reign of the Portuguese Viceroy Conde de Linhares (Count of Linhares).

• The causeway between Ribandar & Panaji built between 1632-34 had an original length of 3026 mtrs., and supported by 40 arches.

• The statue on the west side of the Adilshah Palace is that of Jose Custodio Faria (Abe Faria), a Goan priest from Candolim, whose research on hypnotism at Paris has earned him the title as the “Father of Hypnotism”.

• The statue of the East side of the Adilshah Palace is that of the 1 st Chief Minister of Goa Shri. Dayanand (Bhausaheb) D. Bandodkar.

• The statue in the form of a bust in the garden near Central Library is that of Menezes Braganza, the freedom Fighter.

• The statue in the Campal garden is that of the 1 st Goan ParliamentarianFrancisco Luis Gomes and was erected in 1929, the centenary year of the famous Goan patriot.

• The twin statues at Dona Paula islet, are to commemorate the Far East Travellers and built in memory of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Knox by Yrsa Von Leistner.

• A life size statue of the Father of the Indian Constitution Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar adorns the plinth in the garden named after him and located on the eastern periphery of Panaji city.

• An impressive statue of Christ the Redemptor stands in front of the Bhishop’s Palace at Altinho.

• The memorial opposite the Kala Academy and outside the Military Hospital, Campal The Prince Henry Navigation Memorial, constructed in 1960 to mark the 500 th Death Anniversary of the Portuguese Prince Henry, who revolutionized sea travel by starting the ‘Sagres School of Navigation’.

• The last Governor Generalof the Portuguese regime was Manuel Antonio Vassalo e Silva. His reign ended on 19 th December 1961 , when the Portuguese surrendered and Goa was liberated.

• The Indian Army entered the Goan borders on 18 th Dec. 1961 to liberate Goa and flew the Indian Tricolor at Panjim on 19 th December 1961, at about 10.30 AM, after the Portuguese surrendered.

• The old structure at Azad Maidan, which now houses the memorial to Dr. Tristao Braganza Cunha, house a full sized statue of Afonso de Albuquerque, who took over Goa from the Adilshah in 1510. The same was pulled down after liberation.

• Azad Maidan also houses the MARTYR’S MEMORIAL, as a loving tribute from the people of Goa in memory of those who lay down their lives in Goa’s freedom struggle. All martyrs are listed on its columns.

• The original name of Miramar was “Pirdooc” or “Piddook” (bead).

• The name of Miramar Beach pre-liberation was Praia Gaspar Dias. It came to be known as “ Miramar” after a popular hotel/ restaurant of a similar name existing at the present location of GTDC Hotel.

• Fort Gaspar Dias stood at Miramar Beach where now stand the twin statues depicting late PM Lal Bahadur Shastri’s slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.

• Miramar Beach has the honour of housing Two Mausoleums - of the 1 st Chief Minister of Goa late Dayanand (Bhausaheb) Balkrishna Bandodkar and the 1 st Lt. Governor of Goa, Daman & Diu Late Sachdev.

• The canon ket on the round-about at Miramar is one of the 16 original canons from the Gaspar Dias Fort.

• The original name of Dona Paula was “Odda Vell”.

• The area called Dona Paula is named after Dona Paula Amaral e Souto Maior, wife of a Portuguese Fidalgo (Landlord) Dom Antonio de Souto Maior and the daughter of a Portuguese Governor Amaral de Menezes. Her maiden house is at St. Tome, on way to Old Goa, alongside the NH17.

• Dona Paula de Menezes (daughter of Amaral de Menezes, the Portuguese Governor of Jaffnapattam) was married to the Portuguese landlord Dom Antonio de Souto Maior to whom belonged the land from Miramar to the land site, from where comes the name Dona Paula.

• Dona Paula died on 21 st December 1682 and is buried in the chapel inside the Raj Bhavan.

• Dona Paula’s summer house was at Caranzalem, next to Rosary Chapel, which is presently the residence of the Priest and till date has her Coat of Arms.

• Juma Masjid on Dada Vaidhya Road is the oldest Masjid in Panaji.

• The temple of Devi Mahalaxmi was the first Hindu temple allowed to be built in Panjim by the Portuguese conceding to the requests of the people.

• The Maruti Temple at Mala was constructed in the early quarter of 1900’s at Mala, under the lead of Shri. Nanu Tarcar Pednekar.

• The Church of the Immaculate Conception or the Panjim Church was built somewhere in between 1510 to 1540. The steps were added in 1870.

• The Bell atop the Church of the Immaculate Conception is the second largest in Goa. (The first being the Golden Bell of Se Cathedral). The bell was cast in 1749.

• Built between 1610 -1640, this Shrine of Nossa Senhora da Immaculada Conceicao ( Immaculate Conception Church) was raised to Parish Church status in 1600.

• St. Sebastian Chapel was originally built in the year 1818 and wholly rebuilt between 1884 and 1888.

• The Hillock behind the Directorate of Accounts was called “Bairro Alto do Pilotos” (Higher ward of the Pilots) because it housed a light-house to pilot the ships into the River Mandovi.

• The River Mandovi as it is known towards its western meeting point as it meets the Arabian Sea, is the degeneration of the original name River Mhadei.

• The Cross near the Panaji Ferry Wharf was built to commemorate the tragedy of the boat “ GOA” sinking in River Mandovi and 81 people losing their lives on 3 rd December 1901, in a sudden storm just across the Old GMC. This boat was carrying devotees from the village of Verem to attend the Feast of St. Francis Xavier at Old Goa.

• The original cemetery of Panjim, before shifting to St. Inez, lay exactly above the by-pass now called as “Corte de Outerio” (cut in the hillock). The last person to be interred on 28 th December 1878, in this place was Antonio Paulo, an European soldier stationed at Panjim in the 2 nd Battalion of the Infantry Unit, who had committed suicide on 26 th Dec’ 1878.

• The St. Inez cemetery was inaugurated on 1 st January 1879, and the first burial took place on the very next day, wherein Jose Messias Gomes da Silva was laid to rest.

• The southern end of Panaji, just before the Raj Bhavan (the official residence of the Hon. Governor of Goa) at Dona Paula lies the British Cemetery housing 46 graves. This was built during the period 1791 to 1806 when the British had taken over Goa from the Portuguese.

• The maintenance of this British Cemetery was the responsibility of the Collector of Belgaum, who looked after it during the period when Portuguese ruled Goa and the British ruled India.

• Panaji has two natural springs – one on the eastern side of the Altinho Hillock called as “Fonte Foenix” or Fontainhas spring and the other being “Boca da Vaca” (Mouth of a Cow) on the western side pf the hillock.

• The natural springs in Panaji - ‘Fonte Phoenix’ in Fontainhas (Mala) has a single tunnel whilst Boca da Vaca, in the city, has two tunnels. Boca da Vaca tunnel is open for public to visit during non-monsoon period.

• The premier educational institution for higher studies during the Portuguese era was the Lyceum, housed at Altinho, where now is based the Hon’ble High Court.

• Kasturba Marathi School or the “Kanya Shala” (girl’s school) was the first school for girls in Goa, started in Panaji, started with the efforts of social worker Vithal Sukhtankar. It still exists at the right hand side hillock of the Immaculate Conception Church.

• The Mushtifund School of Panaji, as the name suggests, was built by collecting funds by way of seeking alms of a ‘fistful’ (mushti) of rice.

• The Childrens Park, now the Bhagwan Mahavir Park was called as “Jardim Dr. Oliveira Salazar” and inaugurated on3rd May 1952.

• The original name of the Panjim Municipal Garden was “Garcia d’Orta”