Thirteen kilometers east of Margoa across the fertile rice fields of Salcete lies sleepy Chandor village, a scattering of tumbledown villas and farm houses ranged along shady tree-lined lanes. The only reason to venture out here these days is to visit the splendid Perreira-Braganza/Menezes-Braganza house, regarded as the grandest of Goa's colonial mansions. Dominating the dusty village square, the house, built in the 1500s by the wealthy Braganza family for their two sons, has a huge double-storeyed facade, with twenty-eight windows flanking its entrance.

Braganza de Perreira, the great-grandfather of the present owner, was the last knight of the king of Portugal; more recently, Menezes Braganza was a famous journalist and freedom fighter, one of the few Goan aristocrats to actively oppose Portuguese rule. Forced to flee Chandor in 1950, the family returned in 1962 to find their house, amazingly, untouched.

The airy tiled interiors of both wings contain a veritable feast of antiques. Furniture enthusiasts, and lovers of rare Chinese porcelain, in particular, will find plenty to drool over, while anyone interested in religious relics should request a glimpse of St. Francis Xavier's diamond-encrusted toenail, recently retrieved from a local bank vault and enshrined in the east wing's tiny chapel.

Access

Visitors generally travel to Chandor by taxi, but you can also get there by bus from Margoa, or by train via Chandragoa station, 1km northwest.