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Believed to be the oldest church built by the Europeans in India, it is the principal landmark in Fort Kochi. This historic church was constructed around the site of St. Bartholomews, a wooden structure erected by the five Portuguese priests who accompanied Alberqueque to Kochi in 1503. Hitherto confined only to royalty, the singular privilege of building a church with mortar and stone, roofed with tiles, was extended to the Franciscan priests by the Kochi Raja. The fact that the church was also the original burial site of Vasco da Gama before his remains were shipped to Lisbon in Portugal, has added to its historic value. Only his tombstone remains today.
Preserved inside the church are several inscriptions on leaves, which shed some light on the life and times of the Portuguese and Dutch settlers. In the interior of the church, a plain arch separates the chancel from the nave. The church was originally dedicated to the patron saint of Portugal, Santo Antonio. Renamed in 1663 as St. Francis, the church was converted to the Protestant denomination by the Dutch. While the Dutch had control over the church, it acquired an imposing gable façade at the entrance. It became an Anglican Church in 1804.
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