Home / Fort Kochi
A small seaside quarter where five hundred years of world trade left their mark on every street — and where our homes wait a few lanes back from the water.
Fort Kochi sits at the mouth of one of the finest natural harbours on India's west coast. Pepper, cardamom and ginger from the Kerala hills flowed out through this harbour for centuries, and the world flowed in: Arab and Chinese traders first, then the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, each leaving churches, warehouses, bungalows and street names behind.
Vasco da Gama's fleet opened the sea route from Europe to Kerala in 1498, and the Portuguese built Fort Emmanuel here in the early 1500s — the fort that gave the town its name. The Dutch took the town in 1663, the British in 1795. Walk the streets today and you pass Portuguese churches, Dutch gables and British-era bungalows within a few hundred metres of each other.
The great cantilevered fishing nets along the shore are Fort Kochi's emblem, and ours too. Local tradition holds that they arrived with Chinese traders centuries ago — hence cheena vala, "Chinese net". Each rig is a balance of teak and bamboo poles with stones lashed on as counterweights, worked by a team of fishermen who lower the net into the tide and haul it up again a few minutes later.
The best time to watch them is the hour before sunset, when the nets dip in silhouette against the harbour and the fish stalls beside them sell the day's catch, which nearby shacks will cook for you on the spot.
Fort Kochi and neighbouring Mattancherry hold an unusual weave of communities: Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jain and one of the oldest Jewish settlements in India, whose Paradesi Synagogue (1568) still stands in Jew Town among the antique and spice shops. Goats wander the lanes, ferries hoot across the harbour, and café tables spill onto pavements shaded by rain trees.
Since 2012 the town has also become an arts destination — the Kochi-Muziris Biennale fills its old warehouses and heritage buildings with contemporary art from around the world, usually from December through early April in Biennale years.
October to March is the pleasant season — dry, breezy evenings and the busiest café life. April and May are hot and humid. The monsoon (June to September) turns everything deep green and dramatic; it is the quietest, most atmospheric time to visit, with the best room availability.