Sights and Sounds of Fort CochinTropical Cochin boasts a stunning location between the Arabian Sea and the backwaters, spread across coconut covered islands and headlands. Its unique history of foreign influence is reflected in a variety of architectural styles – fine colonial houses built by wealthy British traders, Dutch cottages with split farmhouse doors, and narrow streets where the dwellings hide behind yellow walls. Your tour today will offer you glimpses of its historical past.
Proceed to the Fort Cochin area. This is where most of Cochin’s historic buildings, constructed by Portugal’s Alfonzo de Albuquerque in 1500, are located.
View the large, graceful Chinese fishing nets. These line the shore of Fort Cochin and are probably the single most familiar image of Kerala. Stop here to see how the nets are operated – an art that is said to have been introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan. They operate by a system of weights and levers. The nets, on wooden frames, are raised periodically to check the catch.
Across the street stands the Church of St. Francis. Its simple style is enhanced only by the handsome floor tiles that line the main aisle. A holdover from colonial days is the continued use of punkahs, large swinging cloth fans suspended above the congregation, and manually operated from outside the church. These are visible from the doorway in case you’d like to take a peek.
An interesting landmark that awaits you is the 284-year-old Dutch cemetery. The tombstones here are the most authentic record of the hundreds of Europeans, who left their homeland on a mission to expand their colonial empires. This cemetery consecrated in 1724 is today managed by St. Francis Church.
Another surviving legacy of the colonial rule in close proximity is Koder House, a boutique hotel on the waterfront, steeped in history – the former residence of the city’s most prominent Jewish family, the Koders. Your coach will return in one and a half hours to take you back to the pier.

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