Fontainhas is the historic Latin Quarter of Panaji, occupying a small wedge of land between Altinho hill and the Mandovi River. The streets are narrow, lined with two- and three-storey houses painted in saturated yellows, blues, pinks, and greens (a Portuguese-era municipal regulation required white walls only for churches, leaving everything else to colour). Wrought-iron balconies, terracotta-tiled roofs, Catholic shrines built into wall niches, and ceramic azulejo name plates lend the quarter its unmistakable Mediterranean atmosphere.
The best way to see Fontainhas is on a slow late-afternoon walk — Rua 31 de Janeiro and the streets around the Chapel of St Sebastian are the most photogenic stretches. Several boutique hotels, a handful of art galleries, and the city's best independent restaurants are all here. The annual Fontainhas Festival of the Arts (in February) opens many of the private houses to visitors.