Set in the heart of Mattancherry and more precisely, on the Synagogue Lane of Kochi, is the historic Jewish quarter. The reason it feels so distinctly European and a little as if you’ve stumbled into Lisbon’s Alfama district is the layers of colonial history stacked on top of each other. The Portuguese inhabited the area around their fort, building churches and streets with Portuguese-style buildings, while the indigenous population continued life in what became the Mattancherry district.
Then the Dutch arrived, then the British and each left their mark on the architecture without entirely erasing what came before. Mattancherry holds pastel-coloured buildings, a spice market that has been exporting black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves for over 5,000 years and has an extraordinary concentration of different communities — mosques, temples, churches and a synagogue all within a short walk of each other.
Built in 1568, this is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, not just in India. The floor alone is worth the entry: hand-painted Chinese blue-and-white willow-pattern tiles, each one slightly different, brought from Canton in the 18th century by a Jewish merchant named Ezekiel Rahabi. Look up and you’ll find Belgian glass chandeliers catching the coastal light. The synagogue also houses Torah scrolls that are over a thousand years old. Adjacent to the synagogue, which most people walk straight past, is Mattancherry Palace. Inside, the Hindu murals depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are among the finest examples of Kerala mural painting. The juxtaposition of a Hindu palace sharing this space with a Jewish synagogue, both built under Portuguese and then Dutch patronage, is the entire story of Kochi in one city block.
The narrow lanes of this area are lined with antique shops overflowing with ivory, spices, brass lamps and colonial curios, set within pastel Dutch-era warehouses that once housed the pepper trade. Dig past the souvenir shops and you’ll find dealers with genuine colonial furniture, old maps, Victorian brassware and ancient coins. At the dead end of Synagogue Lane stands a clock tower built in 1761, incorporating Dutch and local influences. Its three dials, show the time in Malayalam, Roman numerals, and Hebrew — a single object that tells you everything you need to know about Fort Kochi’s layered history.
Stay at: Ginger House Museum Hotel | Closest airport & railhead: Kochi