It used to be the Parish church of Goa and also the place where St. Francis Xavier taught catechism to the local folk. The church has been named after the wife of the tenth Portuguese Viceroy, who is the first European woman ever to have settled in Goa. Her white marble tomb constructed in classic Bijapur style is located here. Its antiquity is attested by its clean geometry surmounted by two imposing octagonal towers. The interior of the church is a feast of lavish ornamentation, where every wall, every roof surface, looks carved, fluted, tessellated, stencilled, gilded or painted.
Angels slumber on lintels or support cornices.
There is a sculptural exuberance appealing for undivided attention at every niche and beam. A wooden pulpit is encrusted with floral motifs. Shafts of light from the apse and the upper windows render the visual experience chaste and celestial. This church in Old Goa stands on the top of a small hill in front of Se Cathedral. The stone steps lead to the top of the church.