St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as Valiyapally, is the cathedral of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanassery The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (; is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala ...

(''Archieparchia Changanacherrensis'') and also a Marian pilgrimage centre in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India.

History

The local Christian community in and around Changanachery inherits its faith directly from St. Thomas the Apostle, who formed a Christian community of faithful, centered on

Niranam Niranam is a village in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. It was a port in ancient Kerala, on the confluence of the Manimala River, Manimala and Pamba River. It is almost 7 km from Tiruvalla in Pathanamthitta District of Kerala, lies to the wester ...

in the 1st century. The first church in Changanachery was established in 1177. The plot of land for the church was donated by the local Hindu king of

Thekkumkoor The Kingdom of Thekkumkur () (also transliterated as ''Thekkumkoor'' or ''Thekkumcore'') was an independent kingdom in the southern part of Kerala in India from 1103 CE until 1750 CE.P. Shungoonny Menon - A HISTORY OF TRAVANCORE - First edition ...

. The current church is the fourth one in its place. The church was reconstructed and consecrated in 1887. The cathedral is ornamented with ancient Hindu temple carvings.

References

Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Kerala Churches in Kottayam district Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanassery Syro-Malabar Catholic cathedrals Churches completed in 1887 Changanassery 19th-century Eastern Catholic church buildings {{India-church-stub