The ruins of St. Thomas fort is seen in Thangassery, Kollam is known by different names such as, ”Thomas Fort”, “Fortaleza de São Tomé” and “Tangasseri Fort”. The fort is located at a distance of 5 km from Kollam city and about 71 km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Thangassery is along the coast of ancient Malabar, which was the port of trading in ancient days.
Malabar coast and Thangassery were significant ports in Chinese trading from the first millennium AD. Later in 1502, Portuguese people landed on the ports of Thangassery and established themselves in the trade of pepper. It was around 1518 Portuguese built St. Thomas fort, which was later conquered by the Dutch in 1658 and further recaptured by the Portuguese in 1659. Years later in 1795, the British took control over the fort. And currently, the fort is under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It is said that the government has initiated certain projects to restore the ruined fort.
Thangassery was referred to as “gold village” because all the trading that happened in the village used gold as the common currency. The remains of the Dutch and Portuguese ruling era is finely visible in Thangassery village. There are still ruins of the old churches built by them. Visit St. Thomas Fort to witness the relics of our ancient era, to know how the Portuguese and Dutch facilitated our trading, and to understand how they transmitted their culture to us.
Contact Details
St Thomas Fort
Thangassery East,
Thangassery, Kollam,
Kerala 691007
