Church and Convent of St. Monica

The Church and Convent of St. Monica is a 17th-century religious complex located on Monte Santo in Old Goa, North Goa. Built between 1606 and 1627, it was the first nunnery in the East and the only monastic institution for women in Portuguese Goa. The site currently houses the Museum of Christian Art and the Mater Dei Institute. It features the Chapel of the Weeping Cross, associated with a reported miracle in 1636, and exhibits Tuscan, Corinthian, and composite architectural styles.

Visitors can explore a massive three-storey fortress-like convent structure with a central cloister and numerous cells. The attached Church of the Weeping Cross contains four altars and the venerated image of the Crucified Christ associated with a 1636 miracle. Part of the convent now functions as the Museum of Christian Art, displaying Indo-Portuguese religious artifacts. The site offers views of the surrounding Old Goa heritage precinct from its position atop Monte Santo.

Construction began on July 2, 1606, under Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes and was completed in 1627. It was founded by Filipa Ferreira as a convent for Augustinian nuns and served as a sanctuary for widows and well-born ladies. A fire in 1636 partially destroyed the building, which was restored by Friar Diogo de Santa Anna. The convent closed after the last nun died in 1885 following the suppression of religious orders in 1835. It was reinstated to church status in 1968.

The site holds significance as the only women's monastic institution in Portuguese Goa and the first nunnery in the East. The Chapel of the Weeping Cross is venerated for the reported miracle of February 8, 1636, when the crucifix image allegedly opened its eyes and bled. The feast of the Weeping Cross is celebrated in the Archdiocese of Goa on November 27. Since 2001, the convent has housed the Museum of Christian Art, preserving Indo-Portuguese religious art from churches across Goa.