By Isla Quinn
Salt air. Old stone. A port that has changed hands more often than its streets have changed names.
Fort Kochi sits on the water-bound islands and islets south-west of mainland Kochi, in Ernakulam district. Wikipedia calls the area Old Kochi or West Kochi, gives its elevation as 29 m, and says it borders Mattancherry. Britannica calls Kochi a city and major port on the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, also known as Cochin. One small oddity: Britannica’s page now writes the state as Keralam, while Wikipedia writes Kerala. We use Kerala, the spelling in the encyclopaedia most readers will meet first.
Four rulers, in order
Wikipedia’s account of Fort Kochi runs like this. The Portuguese reached Kappad, near Kozhikode, in 1498. In 1503 the Rajah of Kochi granted them territory, and they built Fort Emmanuel near the waterfront. The Dutch took the territory later and held it for 112 years; the same page gives 1663 in one section and 1683 in another, and we leave that unresolved. In 1795 the British took control by defeating the Dutch. Kochi became part of the Madras Presidency in 1814, and foreign control ended with Indian independence in 1947.
Dates in order
- 1498: the Portuguese arrive at Kappad, according to Wikipedia.
- 1503: territory granted to the Portuguese; Fort Emmanuel built, according to Wikipedia.
- 1555: Mattancherry Palace built by Veera Kerala Varma, King of Cochin, according to Wikipedia.
- 1663: the Dutch renovate the palace, according to Wikipedia’s Mattancherry article.
- 1795: the British take control, according to Wikipedia.
- 1 November 1866: the Fort Kochi municipality is formed, according to Wikipedia.
- January 1889: the Great Fire of Cochin destroys about 300 houses and commercial properties, according to Wikipedia.
- 1967: Fort Kochi, Mattancherry and adjoining areas merge into the Kochi Municipal Corporation, according to Wikipedia.
A church with two dates
Wikipedia says St Francis Church was built by the Portuguese, and gives 1503 in the landmarks list and 1516 in the history section, when a wooden church was rebuilt as a permanent structure. It says Vasco da Gama was once buried there, that the church now belongs to the Church of South India and that it is a national monument. Two dates, one building. Our reading: the earlier date may refer to the first wooden church and the later to the permanent one, but the page does not say so.
The page also lists Santa Cruz Basilica, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, destroyed by the British and rebuilt near the end of the 19th century. Other sites it names are the Indo-Portuguese Museum, the Old Harbour House and the Dutch Cemetery. It gives no detail on those, so neither do we.
Mattancherry
Wikipedia puts Mattancherry about 9 km south-west of the city centre. Its palace, known as the Dutch Palace, was built in 1555 by Veera Kerala Varma, who reigned 1537 to 1565, and was renovated by the Dutch in 1663, which is how it got the name. The article says it holds portraits of Kochi’s kings, murals and a palace museum. The Paradesi Synagogue stands on Jew Street, in Jew Town; the article says it was built in 1568 by the Paradesi Jewish community on land donated by King Rama Varma, and calls it India’s oldest functioning synagogue. It also names Chempittapally, a 16th-century mosque with a copper roof, and Gujarati Street. We mention these as buildings and dates only.
Why the port is here
Wikipedia’s Fort Kochi page says Arab traders were the first to carry the region’s pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and sandalwood to Europe, and that the Portuguese, Dutch and British followed. It says Kochi’s natural harbour formed after a flood that also destroyed the harbour at Kodungallur, and that Kochi remains an important spice export centre. The page gives no year for the flood.
The biennale
Every few years the old warehouses and halls fill with contemporary art. Wikipedia says the Kochi Biennale Foundation was founded in 2010, that the first biennale began on 12 December 2012 and that it uses existing galleries, public spaces and heritage buildings across Kochi. Aspinwall House hosted works by 44 artists in the first edition. The fifth edition opened on 23 December 2022 after a pandemic delay. The 2025 to 2026 edition is listed as running from 12 December 2025 to 31 March 2026. The page states no fixed schedule, so we do not promise a next date.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia, which anyone can edit, for nearly everything here: the Fort Kochi, Mattancherry and Kochi-Muziris Biennale pages. Britannica for the location of Kochi, though the excerpt we could read carried only its introduction. We tried Kerala Tourism pages for Fort Kochi and Mattancherry Palace and could not read them, so nothing here comes from the state tourism board.
What we left out
Opening hours, ferry timings, ticket costs and anything about how to get around, because no source we read gave them. We left out the waterfront fishing nets, because the page gives only a vague early date. We also left out the names of living artists and curators.
Quick answers
Who built Mattancherry Palace? According to Wikipedia, Veera Kerala Varma, King of Cochin, built it in 1555. The Dutch renovated it in 1663, which gave it the name Dutch Palace.
When did the Portuguese reach Kochi? Wikipedia says they arrived at Kappad in 1498 and were granted territory by the Rajah of Kochi in 1503, where they built Fort Emmanuel.
When does the Kochi biennale run? Wikipedia lists the 2025 to 2026 edition as 12 December 2025 to 31 March 2026, and states no fixed schedule for later editions.
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