GOA, INDIA—The Indian Express reports that construction work near the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa uncovered a pile of cannonballs and other colonial-era European artifacts believed to mark the location of a former Portuguese arsenal. The Archaeological Survey of India said that the site was not only used to store weaponry but was part of a broader defensive complex that included a gun foundry, a coin mint, stables, and a naval dockyard. There may have been an Adil Shahi structure existing at the site prior to the Portuguese conquest. When General Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510, he heavily transformed it, creating an imposing and heavily guarded fortified enclosure within the walled city of Goa itself. At its zenith in the sixteenth century, it may have employed as many as 700 workers. The arsenal eventually shuttered 300 years later, in 1856, due to the decline of Portuguese influence. To read about the cargo of a Portuguese ship that sank in 1533 en route to India, go to "Ship of Ivory."
Former Portuguese Colonial Arsenal Excavated in India
News August 6, 2025
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2024
Educational Idols

When Lions Were King September/October 2023
Symbols

Digs & Discoveries September/October 2023
The Elephant and the Buddha


-
Features July/August 2025
Setting Sail for Valhalla
Vikings staged elaborate spectacles to usher their rulers into the afterlife
Museum of the Viking Age, University of Oslo -
Features July/August 2025
The Home of the Weather God
In northern Anatolia, archaeologists have discovered the source of Hittite royal power
Tolga İldun -
Features July/August 2025
In Search of Lost Pharaohs
Anubis Mountain conceals the tombs of an obscure Egyptian dynasty
Photos by Josef W. Wegner for the Penn Museum -
Features July/August 2025
Birds of a Feather
Intriguing rock art in the Four Corners reveals how the Basketmaker people drew inspiration from ducks 1,500 years ago
Courtesy John Pitts