April 28, 2025 – April 29, 2025
Discover the amazing contrasts of this cosmopolitan, Portuguese-founded city with its lovely colonial architecture, Dutch-style palaces, historic churches, Jewish quarter and huge Chinese fishing nets. Or explore tranquil canals by boat and see ancient villages, exquisite scenery, plantations and temples. See Indian cotton made in traditional fashion.
Explore key landmarks in cosmopolitan Cochin, a picturesque city of peninsulas and islands whose long history reflects influences from a multitude of traders and colonists. You will see evidence of that influence in the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets along the waterfront. These unusual fixed nets are on poles operated from shore, using counterweights and ropes. The Portuguese left their mark in St. Francis Church and in the medieval-style Mattancherry Palace, both of which they built in the 16th century. You will learn more about their influence by browsing the collection of artifacts in the Indo-Portuguese Museum in Fort Cochin. You will also discover how Jewish immigrants affected the history of Cochin by visiting a Jewish community that thrived in the late 1500s. Although few Jews remain, the beautifully preserved Paradesi Synagogue from that time period still stands.
