Dona Paula

Dona Paula is a famous tourist destination and former village in the suburbs of Panaji, Goa. Initially called Oddavell, the villagers decided to rename the village as Dona Paula after Paula Amaral Antonio de Souto Maior, a historical figure in Portuguese India. She was the daughter of the Portuguese Viceroy of Jaffnapatnam, in Sri Lanka. She and her family arrived in Goa in 1644 and she married a Fidalgo from Spain in 1656. Dona Paula was a woman of charity and is known to have helped the villagers and worked a lot for their betterment. Dona Paula is the home to some of the top Industrialists and policy makers of the state. It is also the most expensive residential location in Goa. During the tourist season Dona Paula transforms into a crowded stretch which is otherwise a calm beautiful place during monsoons. One of the most curious attractions in Dona Paula is a whitewashed statue sculpted in 1969 by Baroness Yrse Von Leistner on the rocks near the popular ferry jetty.