Place · Portuguese-founded cathedral basilica · India
Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Kochi
Also known as Santa Cruz Basilica, Kotta Palli, Kottepalli, Holy Cross Cathedral, Fort Kochi
The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica in Fort Kochi descends from a church the Portuguese founded on 4 May 1505 with the King of Cochin's leave, built in stone and mortar then reserved locally for palaces and temples. Made a cathedral in 1558 as a suffragan of the new Archdiocese of Goa, it was spared by the Dutch, used as a store and demolished under the British. The present Gothic-styled church was begun in 1887, consecrated in 1905 and named a basilica in 1984.
- Date
- 1505–None
- Function
- Religious institution & practice
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 9.965, 76.243
Worth knowing
One decorated granite pillar from the demolished cathedral survives at the south-eastern corner of the present basilica's grounds.
About the place
Placed at the coordinates given on the Wikipedia article.
Wikipedia dates the British demolition both to 1795 and to 1806.
Connections (3)
- Site withinKochi
The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica stands in Fort Kochi and is the cathedral of the Diocese of Cochin, erected under the Portuguese Padroado in 1558 with its headquarters in Fort Kochi. Its foundation in 1505 followed the King of Cochin's grant to Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy of Portuguese India, to fortify Fort Manuel and build churches of stone and mortar, which makes it part of the first European settlement at Kochi.
- Site adjacencySt Francis Church, Kochi
In 1505 the King of Cochin allowed the Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida to build two churches of stone and mortar at Fort Kochi: Santa Cruz, founded on 4 May 1505, and the church now known as St Francis, dated 1506 in the Santa Cruz article and 1503 elsewhere. When the Dutch took Cochin in 1663 and destroyed most Catholic buildings, these two were spared; St Francis remained a church while Santa Cruz became an arms store.
- Historical linkSe Cathedral, Old Goa
In 1558 Pope Paul IV raised Santa Cruz to a cathedral for the new Diocese of Cochin, created as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Goa, which had become an independent archbishopric in 1557. Under Goa, whose archbishop's seat is the Se Cathedral at Old Goa, the eastern dioceses from the Cape of Good Hope to Burma, China and Japan came under one jurisdiction, and Cochin was among the first sees within it, alongside Malacca.
Sources
Wikipedia, "Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Kochi", "Fort Kochi".
Open Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Kochi in the repository →