The Santa Cruz Cathedral does not appear in most lists of
Bangkok’s main attractions; yet, in its humble way, it illuminates a seldom known – but important – part of Thai history in the last centuries, a part which almost resulted into the transformation of this culture into a Christian one. Moreover, its white cross atop an earth-red dome is a prominent landmark along the Chao Phraya riverside.
LocationLocated near the Memorial Bridge, Wat Prayoon and Wat Kalayanamit and at walking distance from Wat Arun, this cathedral enjoys a key spot in Thonburi and is not far away from several central areas of
Bangkok.
Christianity in ThailandThe Catholic Church in
Thailand has a long history. During the 16th century, Portuguese and Dutch traders created commercial contacts with Siam. In 1516, Portugal signed a treaty with Thailand to supply firearms and munitions. After a few failures to introduce Christianity, several Portuguese ships landed in Siam in 1553, and three hundred soldiers entered the service of the Siamese king by his request. Next year two Dominicans joined the soldiers as chaplains and established three parishes at Ayutthaya with some fifteen hundred converted Siamese. However, persecutions and murders stopped Christianity’s advance. In 1567, Portuguese friars established the Catholic Church in
Ayutthaya.
In 1662, Siam was made a Vicariate Apostolic by Pope Alexander VII and soon after the kingdom gave shelter to several hundred
Annamite and Japanese Christians who had been persecuted in their countries.
After the Dutch forced on Siam a treaty granting them extraterritorial rights, King Narai turned to France in 1664 for assistance. The last constructed fortifications, built a new palace at Lopburi, and engaged in education and medicine. Moreover, they brought the first printing press into the country. Reports were brought to King Louis XIV claiming that King Narai may convert to Christianity.
On 10 December 1685, King Narai signed a treaty with France, allowing Catholic missionaries to preach the Gospel, exempted Siamese Catholics from work on Sunday, and appointed a special mandarin to settle disputes between Christians and others. However, when King Narai was dying, General Phetracha killed the designated heir, as well as Phaulkon - a Christian Greek that recommended to King Narai to bring the French – and a number of missionaries. The designated heir had been Christian, and thus the Kingdom of Siam remained mainly
Buddhist.
Phetracha became the new king (1688-93), expelled the remaining foreigners and a long period of Siamese isolation from the world began. Siamese Christians experienced a long period of persecutions during the 18th century, despite a favorable attitude towards them by the Siamese kings of the period.
After the destruction of
Ayutthaya in 1767, King Taksin moved his capital to Thonburi, on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River. Portuguese military support, including the supply of cannon and muskets, contributed significantly to King Taksin's army success to drive the Burmese out of the kingdom.
In recognition, King Taksin granted the Portuguese a plot of land to build a wooden church in an area called Kudi Jeen within Thonburi. Descendants of the early Portuguese traders built the first Santa Cruz Church in 1770 on that plot; thus, the church is sometimes called Wat Kudi Jeen.
Only in the 19th century, the missions entered a new flourishing period. Napoleon III renewed the French alliance with Siam and in 1856, King Mongkut signed a political-commercial treaty with France, by which the privileges granted to the Catholics missionaries by King Narai were renewed.
Two NamesAs often happens with foreign structures in Thailand, the cathedral has two names. In Thai is known as "Wat Kuti Jiin," after the name given to the Portuguese settlers: "Farang Kuti Jiin" means "Westerners at the Chinese shrine." The strange name is explained by the fact that King Taksin dictated that the Chinese group who migrated from Ayutthaya settle down around the area of Wat Kalayanamit while the Portuguese people would settle nearby along the bank of the Chao Phraya River. The other name, "Santa Cruz" is Portuguese and means "Holy Cross."
Timing the VisitThe church and the inner courtyard can be visited during the weekends. The outer parts can be accessed also during the week.
The BuildingThe church was constructed several times; the main such events happened in 1816 and in 1913. The last was work of two renowned Italian architects Annibale Rigotti and Mario Tamagno. As a consequence of that, it displays an Italian style rather than a Portuguese one.
The Santa Cruz Pier on the Chao Phraya River gives access to the inner courtyard, where a crucifix is in one corner and a statue of the Virgin Mary is within a garden in the other corner. The church structure is of light colour with reddish corners and is topped by a domed belfry. Stained glass windows featuring with biblical images decorate the sidewalls.
Related sites and structures are a little cemetery and the convent, which hosts a school.
HeritageAs in Macau, the Portuguese heritage here is not very obvious, at the time of my visit, banners with Bible verses were displayed on the outer walls of the temple. To my surprise, they were bilingual in
Thai and English, not a word of Portuguese could be spotted in the site.