St Francis CSI Church, Kochi India

[Manfred M]

This image is one that I though I would post more as a record of what happened as the Europeans got into India.

It is the oldest church in India and was built in 1503, by the Portuguese and was dedicated to St Anthony. When the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama died in Kochi, on his third voyage to India, he was initially buried in this church and the blue sign at the right points to the location of this tomb. His body was taken back to Portugal 15 years later.

In the mid-1600s, the Dutch managed to force the Portuguese out of India and repurposed the church from a Catholic one to a Protestant one. This is the only one that was left as they demolished all of the other churches the Portuguese had built. By the early 1800, the British had pushed the Dutch out and took over the church and it became a Anglican church and was renamed to St Francis. After Indian independence, the church was taken over by the Church of Southern India (CSI), so today we see signs of all four different "owners".

The church is undergoing renovations (it is a protected monument), which explains all of the green netting. Another interesting feature are the white cloths hanging from ropes and beams down both sides. These are fans that are hand-powered; the ropes lead outside the church and people pull the on the ropes to move the fans back and forth to keep the worshipers "cool".

[RList]

Great story. Place deserves to be photographed...if only the walls could talk...
Nice, 'spacey' shot just as like we are there

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[rpcrowe]

The history of Europeans in India encapsulated in a single church...

[Manfred M]

The history of Europeans in India encapsulated in a single church...

Almost - the French were also active in India, but held relatively small amounts of territory, most of which was centred around Pondicherry in the east. So were the Danes and Norwegians (only the Danes after 1813) and they too had relatively small settlements.

What was interesting is how the first the Dutch (to squeeze out the Portuguese) and then the British (to squeeze out the Dutch) would ally themselves with the pirces (rajas(?)) of neighbouring states and essentially encircled the princely state they were trying to take over.

Another interesting fact is that Charles Cornwallis (a British general during the American War of Independence) became Governor General of India. Another famous British soldier Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington) better known for defeating Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo spent seven years in India fighting various wars / battles, returning to Britain with the rank of Major General.

[Wavelength]

Fine image and great narration of events.... I remember my school days' history classes...
Is that lady seen at the centre, from your family?

[Manfred M]

Fine image and great narration of events.... I remember my school days' history classes...
Is that lady seen at the centre, from your family?

No, she was with a small family group as well, a French group if I remember. I think what struck me as interesting is the relatively large number of French speaking travelers we ran into in Kerala.