St. Francic C.S.I Church

St. Francis Church

                             St. Francic CSI Church, Kochi, formerly known as Cochin, originally built in 1503, is the oldest European church in India and has great historical importance as a mute witness to the European colonial struggle in the subcontinent. Basque Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died in Kochi in 1524 when he was on his third visit to India. His body was buried in this church, but after fourteen years, his remains were exhumed in Lisbon. The Basque Vasco da Gama's tomb can still be seen here. He is on the south side of the field. The tombstones are Portuguese one in the north and Dutch in the south wall. A cenotaph in memory of the people of Kochi, who fell in World War I was built in 1920.

Grave of Vasco Da Gama

Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea from Europe to India, landed at Calicut (later renamed Kozhikode) in 1498th Vasco da Gama was followed by Pedro Alvares Cabral and Afonso de Albuquerque. They built a fort at Kochi with the permission of the Raja of Cochin. In the fort, they built a church with a wooden structure that was dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The area is now known as Fort Kochi.

Francisco de Almeida, the Portuguese viceroy, was organized in 1506 by the Raja of Cochin to reconstruct the buildings of wood, stone and masonry. The wooden church was rebuilt, probably by Franciscan monks, the bricks and mortar and a tiled roof was erected. In 1516, the new church was completed and dedicated to St. Antony.

Location: Located at a distance of 2 km west of Mattancherry in Fort Cochin.