As it turns out, what I thought was a convent (that’s what I thought I read on a plaque) was actually the Chapel of St. Catherine, which was built in 1510 by Afonso de Albuquerque.
“St. Catherine’s Church was the first major church built by the Portuguese in Goa. It was built to commemorate the taking of Old Goa on St. Catherine’s day in 1510. The original structure was a simple mud structure that was built for immediate use. This was replace by a stone building in 1539 and finally enlarged to its final form in 1550.” Goacom [link removed]
The inside was pretty spartan and empty so I couldn’t imagine how a congregation (even a small one) could fit in the building. There were no ornaments or relics that would indicate this was a church on the inside.
Below is the only photo I took inside (sorry Heather — it was very dark). But, there are a lot of photos of very old church innards coming in the next few days… including a shrine holding a piece of Saint Francis Xavier’s body.
