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The Professed House 
Immediately
to the south of the main road is the Professed House, a two-storeyed
laterite building covered with lime plaster. Despite the opposition, which
the Jesuits faced, the building was completed in 1585. A part of the
building was accidentally burnt down in 1663 and was rebuilt in 1783.
The Church Of Bom Jesus
The Church of Bom Jesus is also of laterite; its exterior, excepting the
façade, was lime plastered, which was subsequently removed. The
roof was originally tiled. The church is cruciform on plan. The flying
buttresses on the northern side of the church are recent additions. A
single-storeyed structure adjoining the church on its southern wing
connects it with the professed house. The three-storeyed façade
facing west, shows Ionic, Doric and Corinthian Orders, and a main entrance
flanked by two smaller ones, each having Corinthian columns supporting a
pediment. Within the church are two chapels, a main altar and a sacristy
besides a choir at the entrance. A belfry is at the back.
A Blend OF Renaissance & Baroque Styles
A projecting gallery, which was intended for the use of dignitaries on
solemn occasions, runs along the two longer sides. Excepting the richly
gilded altars, the interior of the church is remarkable for its
simplicity. While the façade has the classical orders of the
Renaissance, the altars are in Baroque style.
The church is called "Bom Jesus" meaning 'good Jesus' or
'infant Jesus' to whom it is dedicated. The façade has on it, at
the top, the letters, "HIS" which are the first three letters of
Jesus in Greek. The two columns supporting the choir bear slabs inscribed
in Portuguese and Latin recording that the construction of this Church of
Jesus was commenced on 24 November 1594 and Fr. Alexia de Menezes, the
Archbishop of Goa and Primate of India consecrated it on 15 May 1605, when
it was completed.
Within The Church's Domicile
As one enters, beneath the choir, to the right is an altar of St. Anthony
and to the left is an exceedingly well-carved wooden statue of St. Francis
Xavier. In the middle of the nave on the northern wall is the cenotaph of
the benefactor of this church, Dom Jeronimo Mascarenhas, the Captain of
Cochin, who died in 1593, bequeathing the resources out of which this
church was built.
Opposite the cenotaph, projecting on the southern wall is a profusely
carved wooden pulpit with a canopy on top. The pulpit has on its three
sides the figures of Jesus, the four evangelists and four doctors of the
church. The bottom of the pulpit depicts seven figures as though
supporting it.
The Main Altar
The main altar at the end of the nave is flanked by two decorated altars
in the transept, one dedicated to Our Lady of Hope and the other to St.
Michael. The richly gilded main altar has the figure of infant Jesus and
above it is a large statue of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of
Jesuits, gazing with fervour at a medallion on which is inscribed "HIS".
Above the medallion, the Holy trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost are depicted. In the transept on the northern side is the Chapel of
the Blessed Sacrament.
The Chapel
On the southern side in the transept is a chapel with gilded twisted
columns and floral decorations of wood, where the sacred relics of the
body of St. Francis Xavier are kept. The interior of this chapel is richly
adorned with wooden carvings and paintings, depicting the scenes from the
life of the Saint.
Depicting The Life Of St. Xavier Through Paintings 
On
the southern wall are paintings in Italian School arranged in three rows.
In the bottom row are two paintings showing St. Francis Xavier being
received by certain Portuguese noblemen and his interview with the King of
Bango in Japan. In the middle row are three paintings respectively showing
Xavier praying with fervour for cessation of plague that broke out in
Manas Island, kissing the repulsive ulcer wound of a patient in a hospital
at Venice and the Pope Paul III pronouncing his apostolic benediction on
the eve of his departure to India.
In the top row are, three paintings of Xavier as a servant of a knight,
his sad demise at Sancian, an island off the coast of China and the saint
in ecstasy. There are also other paintings on the remaining three sides of
the chapel, fixed in decorated wooden frames depicting the scenes from his
life and the miracles performed by him. A painting, in oil on canvas, of
ST. Francis Xavier is mounted on the top of the wooden door at the back of
the chapel.
The Ornate Grandeur
The rectangular base of the tomb is of jasper of reddish and purple
colours decorated with carvings in white marble. Above the basement is
another rectangular mass of slightly lesser dimensions having a plaque in
bronze on each of its four sides depicting the scenes from the life of the
saint, and two cherubs holding scrolls.
The four bronze plaques on the four sides show respectively, Xavier
preaching to the people of Moluccas, holding aloft the Crucifix and
baptizing the natives, swimming away to safety escaping from the wild
natives of the island of Morro and dying in the island of Sancian off the
coast of China. A beautiful silver statue is kept in front of the casket.
The silver casket, which serves as a reliquary containing the sacred
relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier, is exquisitely carved, and was
once studded with precious stones. The casket is divided on each side into
seven panels, each of which has two plates representing in relief
important incidents in the life of the saint.
The Duke of Tuscany, Cosmas III, gifted the tomb. A famous sculptor from
Florence, Giovanni Batista Foggini, completed the tomb in ten years, and
was brought to Goa where it was assembled in 1698.
The Altar
Adjoining the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier is a corridor that leads to
the sacristy, entered through an exquisitely carved wooden door. It is an
oblong vaulted structure with an apse at the end. Alongside the walls are
kept the portraits of various saints above delicately carved chest of
drawers. In the altar at the apse in an iron chest containing a golden
rose blessed by the Pope Pius XII and gifted to this city in 1953. At the
foot of the altar is the grave of the founder of the vestry, Balthazar da
Veiga who died in 1659. A painting giving a fair idea as to the state of
the body of St. Xavier about a hundred years ago is displayed near the
altar. 