Goa was a Portugal colony and became part of India in 1961. Portugal influence is still seen in churches of old Goa. Portuguese became interested in Goa once they realized that they were not very succesful in establish the trading post at Calicut.  1510 under the command of Alfonso de Albuquerque Portuguese  laid siege upon Goa, then under Sultan Adil Shah of Bijapur. On February 17th he entered the city of Goa for the first time and met little resistance as the Sultan was engaged with his forces elsewhere. Sultan Adil Shah soon came after him with a vengeance and and on May 23rd 1510 Alfonso de Albuquerque had to flee the city of Goa. 

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Determined to win it for good, Alfonso de Albuquerque made another attempt a few months later with the help of a Hindu Chieftain called Timoja . This time his timing could not have been more than perfect. Sultan Adil Shah had just died and the heir to the throne was the infant Ismail Adil Shah. Ela or the city of Goa was under Rasul Khan, one of his generals. After an initial attack on the Arsenal and a quick and bloody battle, Alfonso de Albuquerque victoriously entered the city of Ela, Goa on St. Catherine's Day, November 25th 1510 .

As revenge for his earlier defeat, he massacred and decimated all of the city's Muslim population over the next three days. He however spared the Hindu population and appointed Timoja as his Thanedar. In 1530, the capital of Portuguese India was transferred from Cochin to Goa and in 1534 it became the centre of the Roman Church in the whole East and finally in 1557 Goa became seat of an archibishopric. In this occasion a large cathedral was also built. In 1570, the Sultan of Bijapur made the last effort to dislodge the Portuguese from Goa, but after a siege of ten months he was forced to give up.

At the beginning of 17th. century, Goa was the capital of an empire which spreaded from Moçambique to Nagasaki and that controlled the Indian Ocean trade. This was the period of great brightness for Goa and the Portuguese power in the East, the city was also called "Goa Dourada" or "Roma do Oriente" at that time is said that Goa had 200.000 inhabitants and was able to compete with the most important cities in the world.

Lot of magnificent churches and buildings were built during these years. Several of them are still visible today. A proverb of the time said: "Quem viu Goa, dispensa de ver Lisboa". By 1543, the Portuguese were able to extend their control over Salcette, Mormugao and Bardez, thus ending their first phase of expansion into Goa. The territories of Ilhas, Salcette, Mormugao and Bardez formed part of the Portugal's "Velhas Conquestas" or Old Conquests, and formed only one fifth of the total area of modern Goa. By this time, Goa became the jewel of Portugal's eastern empire.

Portuguese church includes
Se. Cathedral : Largest church in Asia, Se Cathedral is dedicated to St. Catherine as it was on St. Catherine's day, November 25, that Alfonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese Naval General conquered Goa
Basilica of Bom Jesus:It was the first church in India to be raised to the status of a minor Basilica in 1946. Dedicated to infant Jesus, this church is most revered among the Goans.

The decline of  Portuguese Goa, began with the coming of the Dutch, who several times during 17th century blockaded Goa from the sea and between the 1600-1650 destroyed the Portuguese power in the East. However, Goa was never conquered and still remained with Portuguese for years to come

Goa Liberation  India attained independence from British in 1947. In all eranest, Indian Government requested Portugal Government to hand over Goa. There was popular unrest and people wanted Goa to merge with India. Inspite of repeated requests , Portuguese refused to move out of Goa.

After years of Negotiation, in late 1961, Government of India decided to deploy the armed forces in an effort to evict the Portuguese out of Goa and other Enclaves. It was called "Operation Vijay". It was successful as Portuguese Governer, Manuel Anonia Vassalo De Silva, signed the surrender document on December 19th and 3306 Portugese troops of European origin laid down their arms. They were repatriated to Portugal after a few months.

December 19th is celebrated as Goa Liberation Day. It was initially a union territory (managed by Central Government of India) and then was conferred statehood  on August 12th 1987.

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