St. Thomas Basilica
The St. Thomas Basilica (also San Thome Basilica , Santhome Basilica , Tamil : சாந்தோம் பசிலிக்கா ) is a church in Mylapore , a district of Chennai (Madras), the capital of the Indian state Tamil Nadu . It is located on the site of the alleged tomb of the apostle Thomas . Today's neo-Gothic building was built in 1893 on the site of a previous building built by the Portuguese in the 16th century . The St. Thomas Basilica is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore . In 1956 it was raised to the rank of minor basilica .
history
According to Christian tradition, the apostle Thomas moved to India after the death of Jesus . After evangelizing the Thomas Christians on the Malabar Coast , he is said to have come to Mylapore, which was an important port city long before Chennai was founded. St. Thomas was martyred on the nearby St. Thomas Mount in 72 and was then buried on the site of today's basilica. Most of his relics are said to have been transferred to Edessa later and from there to Ortona , Italy , but his original burial place was still venerated in India. In Mylapore there was a colony of Nestorian Christians who built a church on the site of the tomb. In the early 16th century the colony seems to have dissolved and the church was in ruins.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese founded a colony in Mylapore, which they named São Tomé de Meliapore after Saint Thomas . In 1522–23 they built a small church on the site of the Apostles' grave. In 1749 Mylapore came into the possession of the British East India Company . During the British colonial era , the Portuguese-era church was demolished and replaced by the current structure in 1893. 1956 raised Pope Pius XII. the church to the rank of minor basilica.
Building description
The St. Thomas Basilica is located near the city beach Marina Beach in Mylapore in the south of Chennais. The surrounding district is named Santhome after the basilica .
The brightly whitewashed church is built in the neo-Gothic style. The floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross with a main nave 64 meters long and 10 meters wide . The west portal is flanked by an imposing 47 meter high church tower . In the crypt under the church there is a separate chapel on the site of the apostle's grave.
Individual evidence
- ^ KA Nilakantha Sastri: The Illustrated History of South India. From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 285.
Web links
Coordinates: 13 ° 2 ′ 1 ″ N , 80 ° 16 ′ 40 ″ E