World Tourism Day was observed across India with much pomp. God’s Own Country – Kerala – also did! Fort Cochin’s Chinese Fishing Nets, believed to have first set up by Chinese traders, are famous all over the world. Tourists and locals alike visit this part of Ernakulam district every day....Read More
Spices trade with the East has always been a subject of European history and politics. Kerala was at the crux of it. It still is. Pepper exports from the country are at its highest from Kerala. The Jews and the Romans were the first Europeans...Read More
Credited with ‘finding’ India and the maritime route to the East, this Portuguese explorer adept at mathematics, astronomy and navigation, first landed in India in 1498, at Calicut. He was born in 1460 or 1469. Dom Vasco da Gama held the title of 1st Count of Vidigueira, and did so without being born of royal blood. His father, Estêvão da Gama, was rich nobility of Portugal....Read More
The similarity between the words ‘Cochin’ and ‘China’ is an obvious one. The Chinese came to Cochin in the 14th century. That was the time when Kodungallur lost its importance as a port and trade centre, and Cochin gained its position. Upon their visit the Chinese remarked that the then Cochin resembled China. And so the name: ‘Co-Chin’, meaning ‘like China....Read More
This museum is located on the premises of the Bishop’s House in Fort Kochi. It was with the efforts of late Dr Joseph Kureethra, Bishop of Kochi, the museum came into existence. He took the initiative to preserve the Portuguese’ heritage in Kochi.The museum is divided into five sections – Civil Life, Cathedral, Altar, Treasure and Procession....Read More
Also known as Pardesi Synagogue, the synagogue was built in 1568. Although it was demolished in a Portuguese raid in 1662, it was rebuilt two years later by the Dutch. It has stood the test of time, and is now handled and taken care of by Jewish families in Jew Town, Mattancherry. This Jewish temple houses many artifacts....Read More
Fort Kochi’s gets its name from this structure. Fort Immanuel was built by the Portuguese in 1503 near the Fort Kochi beach. It was also called ‘Manuel Kotta’, locally. ‘Kotta’ is fort in Malayalam....Read More
This church, which now belongs to the Church of South India Council, was built by explorer Vasco da Gama in 1503 within the fort they first constructed. It was a wooden structure, and was dedicated to St Bartholomew....Read More
They are tombs of the Dutch soldiers and traders. Consecrated in 1724, there isn’t much of it left. The Dutch had a custom of leaving gold, silver vessels, and jewellery in the coffin of their loved ones. The knowledge of such a custom must have led to the plundering of this cemetery. All the tombs have engravings on them.
It was built by the Catholic Portuguese in 1506. This imposing church has a stunning blue dome and light interiors. Pope Paul IV consecrated it as a cathedral in 1558. The British destroyed it in 1795, when they took over Kochi. In 1887, a new building was ordered by Bishop Dom Gomes Ferreira. Pope John Paul II sanctified it as a basilica in 1984.
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