Assolna

Assolna ( "Konkani":असोळणें or Osollonne) is a scenic village -- considered a town for census purposes -- in the Salcete sub-district of South Goa district, in the state of Goa, India. It is known for restaurants, scenic riverside setting, ferry, colourful small traditional market, and local institutions. The river Sal flows through this town.
Geography.
Assolna is located at . It has an average elevation of .
Assolna is 11 km from Margao, the main South Goa district headquarters town. It is 13.9 km away from Quepem and Curtorim village is 22.1 km away. 
In its environs are Chinchinim (4.6 km away), Velim (3 km), Ambelim (3 km), Cuncolim (2.4 km), and Cavelossim. Assolna nestles between these villages. It is locally administered by a village panchayat, whose building was inaugurated in October 1984. 
Population.
As per the 2011 Census, it had a population of 3410 persons, in 891 homes. There were 1669 men and 1741 women. Its literate population was 2923 persons.
Etymology.
Folklore traces the other name of the village of Assolna, as “Oslem-na”, according to Bennett Paes. That in vernacular Konkani translates as “There’s nothing like it”. Be it fantasy or fact, what substantiates the significance of that sobriquet are the following events of the past.
On the banks of the River Sal.
Here is a translated portion from Portuguese, of what the Portuguese Administrator, residing in Assolna in the 1890s wrote:
Besides the capital city of Nova Goa and a few other administrative places, there is no other town in Portuguese India of greater importance than Assolna. It is a seat of Civic Administration. The main reason is that, being situated on the bank of river Sal, it serves as a commercial centre and a docking point for domestic ships carrying on coastal trade as far as Bombay to the north.
Market area.
The commercial aspect of the village is well manifested in the shape of its market area, specifically designed in the shape of a square with shopping and service outlets on all sides, and a main road in between, leading over the bridge to the capital, Panjim, in the north, to Cabo de Rama fort in the south; and branching out to the interiors of south Goa in the east and finally, over another bridge to the sea side in the west. This arterial network of inland communication is indeed, unique among the villages of Goa.
Neighbouring conflict.
Earlier on, in 1583, the Cuncolim Revolt against the Portuguese regime resulted in the killing of a Portuguese emissary, together with five Jesuit priests and fourteen native converts. 
As if in a show of reconciliation, the Cuncolim Chieftains were tricked into peaceful talks with the head of the Portuguese army garrison. The venue for talks was at a Portuguese fort built on the bank of river Sal at Assolna. The talks, however, ended before they began, and what followed was a fiery outburst against the gullible Cuncolim Chieftains, in which five of them lost their lives, and one escaped, thus spilling the ‘payback’ of the earlier massacre at Cuncolim, to the village of Assolna. 
This whole episode was unique in all of the Portuguese stay in Goa. Both the encounters took their toll on human lives, in which it was hard to distinguish who were the criminals and who the martyrs. Nevertheless, the Cuncolim chieftains earned for themselves the unpalatable label of ‘crimidor’ (criminals), while the same gang went down as innocent martyrs in Assolna. 
The Portuguese in their calculated wisdom, forced-fit the slain Chieftains into the latter category, making believe that they came with peace on their minds, but met with death in return. The Portuguese even went a step further: to dismantle the Assolna fort and build a church in its place, in commemoration of that remorseful incident.
Village church.
The Regina Martyrum Church of Assolna that celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2016, is the only Catholic church in Goa, and perhaps beyond, that was built on the wreckage of a military garrison. The outward appearance of this church itself lends credence to that hectic transformation, with its facade hardly matching in architecture, even that of the roadside cemetery of the same village. On the other hand, its interiors, although crying for space, are in aesthetic conformity with those of the better-known churches in Goa.
Its main church feast is celebrated in November. There are other smaller feasts too. The zagor is celebrated by the Christian fishing community. A "sangodd" festival to honour Saint Peter is also celebrated. 
There are four temples in the village -- Betal, Santari, Pursachem and Deuki.
Cristo Rei monument.
 However, this unprecedented departure from the exalted exteriors of other Goan churches is amply complemented by another religious structure in the precincts of the church – the majestic “Cristo Rei”. 
This monument to Christ was built and blessed in the year 1934. It depicts a Biblical theme, with the statue of Christ rising tall in the
company of angels and four of his apostles. The depth of detail in its 
making only enhances the scale of its magnificence in pure marble.
It is reported to be the most distinguished among such monuments in all of the present-day India.
The “Cristo Rei” monument is a dream-come-true of a visionary son of Assolna, the late Domingos Gaspar Sebastião da Silva Lobo.
Other landmarks and notable spots.
There is a sports ground at the Bainaku vaddo. A children's park has been set up in 2013. 
Among the palatial homes are the Solar dos Monteiros and the Menezes Mansion. 
Schools in the village include Regina Martyrum, St Anthony (closed in 2003), an English medium school, and a Marathi primary too.
Among Assolna's famous sons was the freedom fighter Dr Juliao Menezes (1909). Its ferry has been a prominent and scenic route for locals and visitors (including tourists) alike.
Like other villages in Goa, Assolna too has its village administration looked after by a "panchayat". The "panchayat" has an online presence at http://vpassolna.com/ This institution issues some certificates, licences and permissions, and no-objection certificates, according to its website.
Book on Assolna.
Prof. Jose Juliao S Almeida wrote "Aldeia de Assolna", a book in Portuguese about Assolna in the 19th century and further back in time.
The village features in the fictional work "Liberation -- A Novel" by Jorge Ataide-Lobo, published in the early 1970s and printed at Casa J.D. Fernandes (Panjim).