Fontainhas

Fontainhas grew in the eighteenth century on land reclaimed by a Portuguese expatriate, and it kept its shape: narrow lanes running between two-storey houses with overhanging balconies, projecting eaves, oyster-shell windows and internal courtyards, laid out on a slope below the Altinho hill. A local convention, dating from Portuguese rules on repainting after the rains, keeps the houses in strong yellows, greens, blues and reds with white trim, refreshed annually. The Chapel of St Sebastian stands at the centre, holding a crucifix brought from the Goa Inquisition. Bakeries, small bars and a few restored houses open as galleries.

What you actually see

• The painted houses - lanes of strong colour with white trim, repainted yearly.
• The balconies and shell windows - Portuguese domestic details in the streets.
• St Sebastian chapel - the small church at the quarter's centre.
• The bakeries and bars - old family businesses in the lanes.

When to go

November to February; houses are freshly painted after the monsoon, so late in the year they look their best. The quarter is residential and quietest in the morning.

Honest expectations

This is a lived-in neighbourhood, not a museum quarter, and photographing doorways and residents needs discretion. It is small and walked in an hour or two. Parking is impossible.

Nearby

Old Goa lies east; Miramar beach is west.