Saint Francis Church, in

Fort Kochi Fort Kochi, Fort Cochin in English, Cochim de Baixo ("Lower Kochi") in Cochin Portuguese creole, is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European fort ...

(Fort Cochin),

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, originally built in 1503, is one of the oldest European churches in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and has great historical significance as a mute witness to the European colonial struggle in the

subcontinent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

. The

Portuguese explorer Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

died in Kochi in 1524 when he was on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were moved to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and now located at

Jerónimos Monastery The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery ( pt, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, ) is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Belém, in the Lisbon Municipality, Portugal. It became the necropolis o ...

.Ayub, Akber (ed), ''Kerala: Maps & More'', ''Fort Kochi'', 2006 edition 2007 reprint, pp. 20–24, Stark World Publishing, Bangalore,

History

, who discovered the sea route from Europe to India, landed at

Kappad Kappad, or Kappakadavu locally, is a beach and village near Koyilandy, in the district Kozhikode, Kerala, India. A stone monument installed by government commemorates the "landing" by Vasco da Gama with the inscription, Vasco da Gama landed h ...

near

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

(Calicut) in 1498. He was followed by

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

and

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

. They built

Fort Emmanuel Fort Emmanuel, also known as Fort Manuel, is a ruined fort located at Fort Kochi Beach in Kochi (Cochin), Kerala, India. It is a bastion of the Portuguese and a symbol of the strategic alliance between the Maharaja of Kochi and the Kingdom ...

at the

Fort Kochi Beach Fort Kochi beach is a beach along the Arabian Sea situated in Fort Kochi in the city of Kochi in South India, Kerala state. Points of interests Unique views and point of interests are the so-called Chinese fishing nets (''Cheena vala'', Malay ...

with permission from the Raja of Cochin. Within the fort, they built a church with a wooden structure, which was dedicated to

St. Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

. The neighbourhood is now known as

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

, the Portuguese viceroy, was allowed, in 1506, by the Raja of Cochin to reconstruct wooden buildings in stone and masonry. The

Vasco da Gama died in Kochi in 1524 on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were moved to

The Franciscans retained control over the church till the Dutch captured Kochi in 1663. While the Portuguese were

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and the Netherlands had Catholic and Protestant citizens, the Dutch government and Colonialists were

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. They demolished all the churches except this one. They reconditioned it and converted it into a government church.

References

External links

St Francis Church;Colonial History of India in Stone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Church, Cochin Churches in Kochi Colonial Kerala 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India Church of South India church buildings in India Churches completed in 1503 Churches completed in 1516 1500s establishments in Portuguese India 1510s establishments in Portuguese India Religious organizations established in the 1500s Archaeological sites in Kerala Portuguese in Kerala Portuguese colonial architecture in India Baroque church buildings in India Monuments of National Importance in Kerala Tourist attractions in Kochi

History

See also

References

External links