Santa Cruz Basilica

Kochi (Cochin)


Built on the site of an early-16th-century Portuguese church (demolished during the British Raj), Fort Cochin's imposing neoclassical Catholic basilica dates to 1902. In the striking pastel-coloured interior you’ll find artefacts from the different historical eras in Kochi.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kochi (Cochin) attractions

1. Kashi Art Gallery

0.13 MILES

The pioneer of Fort Cochin’s art revival, Kashi displays changing exhibitions of local artists in a creatively restored Dutch heritage house, attached to…

2. St Francis Church

0.16 MILES

Constructed in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan friars, this is believed to be India’s oldest European-built church. The faded-yellow edifice that stands…

4. Bastion Bungalow

0.2 MILES

Though the interior of this 1667 Indo-European bungalow was being renovated into a museum at research time, you can admire its fine whitewashed, tiled…

5. Chinese Fishing Nets

0.22 MILES

The unofficial emblems of Kerala’s backwaters, and perhaps the most photographed, are the half-dozen giant cantilevered Chinese fishing nets on Fort…

6. David Hall

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Opposite the parade ground, this beautiful restored bungalow is all that remains of three 17th-century Dutch-era houses built using materials from…

7. Indo-Portuguese Museum

0.27 MILES

The heritage of one of India’s earliest Catholic communities – including vestments, silver processional crosses, altarpieces from the Kochi diocese and…

8. Dutch Cemetery

0.32 MILES

Consecrated in 1724, this cemetery near Kochi's beach contains the worn and dilapidated graves of Dutch traders and soldiers. Its gates are normally…