The churches are still standing
The first thing that stops you in Diu is a church. Not a temple, not a mosque, a church built in 1601 by the Jesuits, its limestone facade holding the particular grey of old Portuguese stonework, its nave cool and echoey in a way that feels imported from somewhere far west of the Arabian Sea. The Church of St. Paul still stands in the old town. So does the Church of St. Thomas, which is now a museum. So does the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which has been converted into a hospital. The Portuguese left in 1961 under pressure from the Indian military during Operation Vijay. The churches stayed.
