Ribandar

The name Ribandar originates from "Rayachem Bandar" in Konkani meaning the wharves, docks or portage of the Rayas or Kings. It is unclear which kings are meant here. The Rayas of Sangama Dynasty of Vijayanagar are believed to have built this port to facilitate the import of horses from Arabia.^[1]

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Ribandar is located at 15°30′10″N 73°51′55″E and has an average elevation of 3 metres (9.8 ft).^[2]

It is separated from Panjim by the Rio de Ourém (River of Gold), whose junction with the Mandovi River here forms a large, wide, and marshy estuary. This estuary in traversed by an old causeway built in 1633 under the auspices of one of the viceroys of Portuguese India, the Count of Linhares, after whom it is named the Ponte Conde de Linhares. A new road to the south of Ponte Conde de Linhares provides one more link to Ribandar, Chimbel and Old Goa from Panjim.

The islands of Chorão and Divar lie to the north and north-east of Ribandar respectively. The ferry wharf at Ribandar is one of the major means of transportation to these two islands.

The former local Santa Casa da Misericórdia or Holy House of Charity, also called the Royal Portuguese Hospital, houses a management school, the Ribandar campus of the Goa Institute of Management.^{[citation needed]}

Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares (1836–1923), a Syrian Orthodox priest, is buried in St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church in Ribandar.^{[citation needed]}

Gurunath V. Shetye (1923-2018) was the founding principal of Bal Bharati Vidyamandir, the first high school in Ribandar and nearby villages after Goa liberation. He donated property he inherited in Ribandar to the school.^[3]

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  Old Mandovi Bridge in 2008
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  Ram Temple at Ribandar
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  Syrian Orthodox Church
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  Ribandar Church at Pato
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  Ribandar Church near Pato
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  Church at Ribandar foothill