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HISTORY & MONARCHY

 

 

 

  Santa Cruz Church through time

 

Thailand

Over time, the Santa Cruz Church, located on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, and named Church of the Holy Cross, which in Portuguese is Santa Cruz, a name was chosen because the title deed of the donated land was signed on September 14th, a day that coincides with an important day in Roman Catholic liturgy, i.e. the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

 

However, since 1835 AD it became locally known by the epithet Kuti Jihn. It was built and rebuilt three times. These three scale models in the Ban Kuti Jihn Museum in Thonburi (fig.) show its transformation from a simple wooden hut, built by Portuguese traders in 1769 AD, to the church in the Neo-Renaissance-style it today is. Here, in chronological order, from top to bottom, are as follows...

 

  Santa Cruz Church through time

 

  Santa Cruz Church through time

 

The first church built in 1769 and used until it burned down in 1833; the second church built in 1835 in a design resembling Chinese edifices called Keng (fig.), which led to it being nicknamed kuti jihn, i.e. ‘Chinese dwelling’, a name adapted by the community that grew around it (fig.); and the third church, built in 1916 and still in use at present (fig.).

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