St .Stevens Santo Estevam
The church of St. Stevens was built on the island of Jua near Divar in 1759 and was one of the large churches to be built. The church is special due to its exterior portion resembling a false dome surrounded by twin towers with lanterns.
The main altar is a bit distinctive, ending in a four pillared canopy where St. Stevens statue stands. The church is built in typical Corinthian style with a nave ceiling, double niched side altars and an elegant pulpit. The ceilings are decorated with floral graffiti.
From the village, the fort of Jua can be approached by means of a fairly formidable flight of rough steps. The climb is well worth the effort and at the top is a modern but impressive shrine to Christ the king. Here was a sailor who was visiting the shrine on the day before he left Goa to rejoin his ship. He said that he always came to this spot to say his prayers and farewells and perhaps even to view once more, from this excellent vantage point, his beloved Goa.
The fort of Jua is impressive and well worth the climb up and has a shrine dedicated to Christ the king atop it. It has a special incident related to it where a sailor used to pray here regularly at the shrine before rejoining his ship as he was deeply attached to Goa and loved to view it regularly from this fort. The view from the fort is actually scenic looking down towards the iron ore mines and loaded barges moving towards Mormugao. Originally, the fort was believed to serve as an outpost to protect Ilhas from Muslim invasions.
