7 Sights in Kochi, India (with Map and Images)

The Paradesi Synagogue aka Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue is a synagogue located in Mattancherry Jew Town, a suburb of the city of Kochi, Kerala, in India. It was built in 1568 A.D. by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Paradesi Jewish community in Kochi. Cochin Jews were composed mainly of the much older Malabari Jews and the newly arrived Sephardic refugees from the Portuguese religious persecution of Jews in Spain and Portugal. It is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was built by Sephardic or Portuguese-speaking Jews, some of them from families exiled in Aleppo, Safed and other West Asian localities.

Wikipedia: Paradesi Synagogue (EN), Website

Saint Francis Church, in Fort Kochi, Kochi, originally built in 1503, is one of the oldest European churches in India and has historical significance as a witness to the European colonial ambitions in the subcontinent. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died in Kochi in 1524 when he was on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were relocated to Lisbon and is now interred at Jerónimos Monastery.

Wikipedia: Church of Saint Francis, Kochi (EN)

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".

Wikipedia: National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom, Vallarpadam (EN), Website

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.

Wikipedia: Mattancherry Palace (EN)

Fort Emmanuel, also known as Fort Manuel, is a ruined fort located at Fort Kochi Beach in Kochi, Kerala, India. It was a bastion of the Portuguese and a symbol of the strategic alliance between the Maharaja of Kochi and the Kingdom of Portugal. Named after Manuel I of Portugal, it was the first Portuguese fort in Asia.

Wikipedia: Fort Emmanuel (EN)

The Vypin Lighthouse or Cochin Lighthouse is situated at Puthuvype in Kochi, Kerala. India. It started as an oil-fuelled lamp at Fort Kochi in 1839, and was updated over the years. It was replaced by a structure in Puthuvype in 1979. It is the tallest lighthouse in Kerala.

Wikipedia: Vypin Lighthouse (EN)

Church of Our Lady of Hope is a Latin Church parish in the Diocese of Cochin. It is located at Fort Vypin in the island of Vypeen, the point where the Vembanad Lake merges with the Arabian Sea, with Fort Cochin on the other side.

Wikipedia: Church of Our Lady of Hope (EN)