San Thome Basilica

San Thome Basilica stands on Santhome High Road in Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, near the Bay of Bengal shore. The Portuguese founded the settlement of Sao Tome de Meliapor around 1522 near the reputed tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle, which Christian tradition holds to be the place where he was buried after his death in the first century. The Portuguese era is the earliest European chapter on this stretch of the Coromandel Coast, pre-dating the founding of Fort St. George and Madras by more than a century. The present church is a neo-Gothic structure completed in 1893 on the site of earlier chapels, built under British rule with a tall white spire and pointed arches, and it was raised to the rank of basilica in 1956. Inside, the nave is lofty and pale, with stained glass and a high altar, while a crypt-level shrine below the church is the focus of pilgrimage because it houses the tomb associated with St. Thomas. A small museum attached to the basilica displays relics, old stone inscriptions, Portuguese-era artefacts and photographs recording the history of the shrine and the earlier churches. The curatorial approach is modest and devotional rather than interpretive, so the museum is best read as a supplement to the church itself. The basilica remains a working place of worship with daily masses in several languages, and the upkeep is carried out by the Catholic diocese, which keeps the building in good condition. Visitors are expected to dress modestly and to keep quiet during services. It is easily combined with Kapaleeshwarar Temple, a short distance inland in Mylapore, and the nearby beach, which gives a compact picture of how Hindu, Portuguese and later colonial history overlap in this old part of the city.