Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and 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, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a 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 1949, when the monarchy was abolished by the Dominion of India.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of St Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle, who sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD.
Fort Kochi, Fort Cochin in English, Cochim de Baixo in Cochin Portuguese creole, 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 Cochin or West Cochin. 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 at Fort Kochi, Kochi, is one of the nine basilicas in India. Counted as one of the heritage edifices of Kerala, this church is one of the finest and most impressive churches in India and visited by tourists the whole year round. It is a place of devotion as well as a center of historic significance, endowed with architectural and artistic grandeur and colours of the Gothic style.
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 Site and hence it's yet to be in UNESCO. 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 & 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 a 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".
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.
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, aka Latin Christians of Kerala or Malabar Latin Catholics are a multi-ethnic religious group who constitute the ecclesiastical provinces of Verapoly and Trivandrum, which follow the Roman Rite liturgical practices of the Latin Church, on the Malabar Coast, the southwestern coast of India. 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.
