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Resorts Fort Cochin

If you’re visiting Cochin, be sure to visit Fort Kochi in its suburbs. The Jews, Dutch, Arabs, Portuguese and the British have used it as an important link in trade in ancient times and as a settlement. Their influences can be seen in the cuisine, architecture and many other features of Fort Cochin.

Fort Immanuel, from which Fort Kochi gets its name, was the first European fort built on Indian soil, in 1503, by Portuguese. It was then known as 'Manuel Kotta'. The Dutch gained possession of it in 1663 and controlled it until the British wrested it from them in 1795. Fort Cochin beach is lined with Chinese fishing nets and in the evenings you can see fishermen lifting the nets, loaded with fish. Be sure to visit the Dutch Palace, Santa Cruz Basilica, and St. Francis church, which used to house the remains of Vasco da Gama.

Mattancherry close by has the oldest synagogue in India. The Pardesi Synagogue is open to visitors on all days except Saturdays. There used to be seven synagogues in Fort Cochin in this street, only this is functioning now. This more than 400-year-old has a separate first floor section above the main entrance for women to sit during the worship. There are Belgian crystal chandeliers, carved teak ark and Torah crowns of solid gold set with gems in the synagogue. The floor has hand-painted porcelain tiles from Canton in China. The interesting factor is that no two tiles are similar, and they show a love affair between a mandarin’s daughter and a commoner.

There are two copper plates dating back to the 4th century showing privileges granted to the Jewish community during the reign of Bhaskara Ravi Varman in the 10th century. The four dials of the 45ft clock tower have numerals painted in Malayalam, Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic.