D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the first European to reach India by sea.
Kodungallur is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Thrissur district of Kerala, India. It is 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of Kochi (Cochin) by National Highway 66 and 38 km (24 mi) from Thrissur. Kodungallur, being a port city at the northern end of the Kerala lagoons, was a strategic entry point for the naval fleets to the extensive Kerala backwaters.
The Kingdom of Cochin, also known as the Kingdom of Kochi or later as Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was an Hindu kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until its accession to the Dominion of India in 1949.
Fort Kochi, formerly known as Fort Cochin or British Cochin is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European fort on Indian soil, controlled by the Portuguese East Indies. This is part of a handful of water-bound islands and islets toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Kochi or West Kochi. Adjacent to this is the locality of Mattancherry. In 1967, these three municipalities along with a few adjoining areas, were amalgamated to form the Kochi Municipal Corporation.
The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, also known as Kotta Palli or Kottepalli, is located in Fort Kochi, Kochi. It is one of the thirty-four basilicas in India and one of nine in Kerala. This heritage edifice of Kerala is renowned for its Indo-European and Gothic architectural style. It serves as the cathedral church of the Diocese of Cochin.
The Mattancherry Palace is a palace popularly known as the Dutch Palace, in Mattancherry, Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala which features Kerala murals depicting portraits and exhibits of the Rajas of Kochi. The palace was included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Despite the name Dutch Palace, the palace was built by the Portuguese Empire as a gift to the Kingdom of Cochin.
The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope. There are over 20 million Catholics in India, representing around 1.55% of the total population, and the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian church in India. There are 10,701 parishes that make up 174 dioceses and eparchies, which are organised into 29 ecclesiastical provinces. Of these, 132 dioceses are of the Latin Church, 31 of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and 11 of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Despite the very small population that Indian Catholics make up percentage wise, India still has the second-largest Christian population in Asia after the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
Kochi is an ancient city located in the Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala about 200 km from Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala.
The Kochi metropolitan area or Kochi urban agglomeration is a metropolitan area consisting of Kochi and its satellite towns in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. With a population of more than 2.1 million within an area of 440 km2, it is the most populous metropolitan area in Kerala.
The National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom aka Vallarpadam Basilica located in Vallarpadam, a suburb in Ernakulam, in the city of Kochi, is a minor basilica and a major Christian pilgrimage centre in India. Around 5 million people visit the basilica every year. People from all parts of the world irrespective of caste or creed go to the church to seek the blessings of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, popularly known as "Vallarpadathamma".
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cochin is a Roman Catholic Diocese of the Latin Rite in Cochin, Kerala, India. It was established in 1557 after the domination of the Portuguese-speaking missionaries. The diocese is a suffragan church to the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and serves the people of Malabar. It is under the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly.
Le Colonial is an old colonial house located in Cochin, Kerala, India. It is now used as a hotel.
The Fifth India Armada was assembled in 1503 on the order of King Manuel I of Portugal and placed under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque. It was Albuquerque's first trip to India. It was not a particularly successful armada - navigational mistakes scattered the fleet on the outward journey. Ships spent much time looking for each other and several ended up travelling alone.
The Sixth India Armada was assembled in 1504 on the order of King Manuel I of Portugal and placed under the command of Lopo Soares de Albergaria.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala, India, which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution.
Events from the year 1503 in India.
CSIDiocese of Cochin is one of the twenty four dioceses of the Church of South India covering the churches in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.
The Latin Catholics of Malabar Coast, also known as Malabar Latin Catholics or Latin Christians of Kerala are a multi-ethnic religious group in Kerala adhering to the Roman Rite liturgical practices of the Latin Church, on the Malabar Coast, the southwestern coast of India. Ecclesiastically, they constitute the ecclesiastical provinces of Verapoly and Trivandrum. They are predominantly Malayali people and speak the Malayalam language, though a subgroup of Luso-Indians speaks the Cochin Portuguese Creole. They trace their origins to the evangelization of Malabar Coast by the Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit and Carmelite missionaries, mainly French and Portuguese.
Vasco House is a notable tourist site located in Fort Kochi, in the South India state of Kerala. It is one of the oldest Portuguese residences in Fort Kochi. The house is believed to have been the residence of Vasco da Gama, which was constructed in the first half of the sixteenth century. Vasco House has stark white walls, a Prussian blue glass pane windows and a balcony cum verandahs of the traditional European style of that era.
