Skip to content
Menu
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Reflection of Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Fort Kochi, Kerala

Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Fort Kochi, Kerala

Posted on July 29, 2013May 12, 2021

At Fort Kochi you can sense history, it is around around you in the air. You find things Jew, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and British all within short distance of each-other right here in India. I visited Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica on a overcast evening at Fort Kochi. When I entered the  basilica it was empty. Only once before I have entered a place of worship and had it all to myself, it was the St. Mary’s Church  in Oxford.

While I visited the place I was wondering what is the difference between a church and a basilica. I found the answer here–

“The word basilica is derived from a Greek term meaning “royal house.” In the Catholic world, a basilica is a church building that has been accorded special privileges by the pope. There are two kinds of basilicas. The world’s four major, or papal, basilicas are St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major, all in Rome.”

Minor, or lesser, basilicas are significant churches in Rome and elsewhere in the world that meet certain criteria and are given special ecclesiastical privileges. Minor basilicas are traditionally named because of their antiquity, dignity, historical value, architectural and artistic worth, and/or significance as centers of worship. A basilica must “stand out as a center of active and pastoral liturgy,” according to the 1989 Vatican document Domus ecclesiae”.

Santa Cruz Basilica has such a fascinating history. It has three distinct phases of existence . In the first phase, 1505 to 1558, the Portuguese built it. Then Dutch conquered Kochi and razed almost everything to the ground but this Cathedral and St. Francis Church. Even though it escaped destruction from Dutch, it met the same fate in 1795 at the hands of British.

When you walk through Cochin you here of so many things that were destroyed by the Dutch or the British. I wonder how the town would look if humankind would have preserved things instead of destroying them!

The reconstruction of the Santa Cruz basilica was started under  Bishop D. João Gomes Ferreira in 1886. It was completed under the next leadership of the bishop. Since then it has been left in peace and that is how I got to see it in 2013!

The mind boggles to imagine that something was built in 1505, destroyed, rebuilt in 1886 and I go and see it 2013. This world has been around for a long time and it is going to be around for quite sometime as well. We speck of dusts just pass through it!

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

17 thoughts on “Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Fort Kochi, Kerala”

  1. Meena Menon says:
    July 29, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    This has some vasco de gama connection rt?

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 30, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      Meena the whole place has Vasco de Gama connection 😀

      Reply
  2. Niranjan says:
    July 29, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    Brilliant click!

    http://www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 30, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      Thank you Niranjan.

      Reply
  3. rupam { xhobdo } says:
    July 30, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    Wonderful capture, Awesome

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 30, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      Thank you Rupam.

      Reply
  4. Satyender S Dhull says:
    July 30, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Beautiful capture.

    http://www.bnomadic.wordpress.com

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 31, 2013 at 11:12 am

      Thank you Satyender.

      Reply
  5. Easwar Arumugam says:
    July 30, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    Such time-tested old structures are rare to find. But then, it becomes incumbent on the people-concerned to safe keep them for posterity. The word basilica is well defined.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 30, 2013 at 4:44 pm

      Thank you Easwar. I just quoted the definition from the source.

      Reply
  6. indu chhibber says:
    July 30, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    Nice info about a basilica & i loved the reflection in water!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 31, 2013 at 11:11 am

      Thank you Indu.

      Reply
  7. Meghana says:
    July 30, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    Interesting post and beautiful capture..

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 31, 2013 at 11:12 am

      Thank you Meghana.

      Reply
  8. team g square says:
    July 31, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Wonderful capture and Information .

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 31, 2013 at 3:50 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  9. vipin says:
    February 26, 2014 at 11:58 am

    Gud pic of my basilica… Do u ve some scientific stuff about is architecture

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

Subscribe to the blog!

Subscribe

* indicates required

Support provided by Credible Content Writing & Copywriting Services

©2025 Travel Tales from India and Abroad | Powered by SuperbThemes