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St Francis
Xavier's Church at Fort Kochi was built in the year 1503, by the
Portuguese traders. They came here with Admiral Pedro Alvarez de Cabral,
via the same route taken by the legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco da
Gama, who landed at Calicut in 1498.
The Church
is actually a quite modest, unpretentious structure. Architecturally,
this church is not very jazzy, but it stands as a landmark of history
and church architecture of India. Later, many churches were built in
India keeping the Saint Francis Xavier Church of Cochin in mind.
Initially, the church was a simple wooden structure, dedicated to St
Bartholomew. |
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In 1506,
the Raja of Cochin permitted the Portuguese Viceroy, Dom Francisco
Almedia, to reconstruct the structure in stone. The new church was
completed in 1516 and was dedicated to St Antony. The ownership of the
Church of St Francis Xavier then passed into the hands of the protestant
Dutch, who captured Kochi in 1663. They converted it into their
government church and it remained in the possession of the Dutch until
1795.
Thereafter, its ownership passed to the British, when they captured
Kochi from the Dutch. The church became a protected monument in 1923,
under the Protected Monuments Act of 1904. In 1947, the congregation
joined the Protestant Church of South India (CSI).
St Francis
Xavier's Church is also famous because Vasco-da- Gama, the first
European to discover a route to India, died here in 1524 on his third
visit and was buried in this church. Though his remains were shipped to
Lisbon after 14 years, the gravestone is still seen here.
How to
reach
The nearest airport is
Cochin International Airport.
Once you land in Kochi, hire a cab, auto-rickshaw or bus to reach Fort
Kochi, where this church is located.
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