Located 9km from Panaji, Cabo fort lies on the peninsula land jutting out in the Arabian Sea, at Dona Paula. The fort was erected by the Portuguese in 1540 to guard the entrance to Goa harbour.
The Portuguese planned a fort here in 1540, and as per long-established defence strategy, quickly built a church. Subsequently, they built a fort and the church was made into a convent.
Since the fort’s canons were never used `in anger’, the buildings were used as temporary accommodation for the archbishop from the 1650s. The British took it over in 1798 and stayed in residence, apart from a brief break, until 1813.
Initially during the Portuguese era, a Franciscan Convent, was attached to the Fort. These days nothing remains of the old citadel.
You can, however, see the ruins of the small military cemetery the British built at the time of their brief occupation of the Cabo during the Napoleonic wars - a move intended to deter the French from invading Goa. This later became Cabo Palace and is now the official residence of the Governor of Goa, known as the Raj Bhavan.
