PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONES IN THE COURTYARD OF SANTA CRUZ CATHEDRAL, FORT KOCHI

In the Santa Cruz Cathedral, surrounding the pillar at the courtyard, is a chained area which not many pay attention to. At first sight it seems empty and barren, but on a closer look you can easily find three tombstones with Portuguese inscriptions! I don't think anyone has critically studied them. These gravestones were dredged up about 15 yards from the old Port Office gate and presumed to have been dumped there with other debris from the old cathedral, but eventually brought to the new cathedral courtyard and set against a wall, where it remained for decades (Venn, 1950, p. 36). In 1989, Joe Fernandez at his expense took these tombstones and arranged around the pillar and guarded it with chains all around (Bernard, 1995, p. 95). It was around 1925-26, British harbour engineer, Sir Robert Bristow recovered Portuguese gravestones from the seabed while dredging the backwaters of the inner Cochin harbour. Early records suggest at least 13 tombstones were recovered, 9 were brought to Thrissur Museum in the 1930s, and 4 apparently remained in Cochin. It was only after reading the epitaphs, I realized that they were the tombstones left at Cochin. Today, three tombstones can be easily identified, as the inscriptions are sharp and clean. Out of them, two are intact, but the third is a broken specimen with incomplete inscription. 

THE PILLARS OF THE OLD SANTA CRUZ CATHEDRAL, FORT KOCHI

1-Santa Cruz Cathedral, 2-Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, 3-Pillar of Old Santa Cruz Cathedral

In the south-west corner of the modern Santa Cruz Cathedral of Fort Cochin (consecrated on 19 November, 1905) is the blue-domed 'Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima' (erected by Fr. G. A. Godinho on 30 December, 1949), and behind this chapel of Virgin Mary is a pillar with a cross atop, and an inscription at its base that says "Erected by J. E. Winckler Port Officer". This column is claimed to be a remnant from the old Santa Cruz Cathedral built by the Portuguese in the 16th Century. Interestingly, there is another pillar on the beach side opposite to the Bastion Bungalow which  also has the name Winckler, and the inscription reads: "Erected 17 October 1890 by J E Winckler Port Officer". The pillar commemorates "the Great Fire of Cochin" caused by 'Chandrabhanu', a 500 ton vessel on 4th January, 1889. 

WHERE WAS THE TOMBSTONE OF SIMEON DE MIRANDA (d. 1524) DISCOVERED?

In the previous post, I discussed about  how I  came across perhaps the oldest extant European grave marker in India inside the St Francis Church of Fort Kochi. Every day hundreds of tourists flock to see the grave monument of the famous European explorer, Vasco da Gama, who died on a Christmas Eve in the year 1524 and was initially buried in this church. However, I doubt anyone is aware of a tombstone lying at a remote corner in the same church, which is 4 months older than that of Gama's grave slab. It was quite a surprise find to me because the whereabouts of this grave marker was long thought to be untraceable (Bauke van der Pol, 2014, p. 183). What is more important is that the headstone was not originally part of St Francis church, but was discovered elsewhere and brought to the church afterwards. We learn the site of its discovery from Julian James Cotton (1905, p. 272). In his words, "the oldest European tombstone in South India, brought to light while digging the foundations of the new Port Office". He also reports of finding two more tombstones from the compound of the new Port Office at Parade Road. In the inventory given by Roberts and Chekkutty (2017, p. 162), the discovery occurred at the Post Office compound in the Parade Road. Now, where is this 'Port Office' in Fort Cochin today? It took me some time to figure out the actual site, since a Port Office at Parade Road is unknown and tombstones retrieved from Post Office compound are also unheard of. Nonetheless, Fort Cochin’s Head Post Office, just behind the historic St Francis Church, was the location of an early 16th century Portuguese Monastery named after San Antonio or St Antony (Bernard, 1955, p. 12). 

It turns out, the new Port Office referred here was built by the British in late 19th century close to the site where stood a flagstaff tower. The tower was not any ordinary building, but the steeple of Santa Cruz Cathedral built by the Portuguese in early 16th century. This imposing structure was a characteristic feature of old Cochin’s skyline. Almost three centuries ago, in 1739, Captain Alexander Hamilton (vol. 1, p. 239) wrote: “Their Flag-staff is placed on the Steeple of the old Cathedral, on a Mast of 75-Foot-high, and a Staff a-top of it about 60 Foot, which is the highest I ever saw; and the Flag may be seen above 7 Leagues off”. I don't think many are aware that the current impressive Santa Cruz Cathedral at Fort Cochin is only a monument from 1905, and is located about 400 m south of the original Portuguese monument. Traditionally, Portuguese established the Santa Cruz Church on 3rd May,1505, and it was raised to a cathedral in 1558. The Dutch after conquering Cochin in 1663, transformed the cathedral to a storage place with a flagpole. The only other church they spared was the St Francis church which was converted into a Protestant place of worship. It should be noted that there were more than a dozen Portuguese churches inside Fort Cochin before the Dutch, but all have vanished without any trace today! The Dutch rule ended with the conquest of Malabar by the British in 1795.