In a quiet garden behind the Bishop's House, a low building holds silver crosses, carved altars and embroidered vestments, the treasures of centuries of Portuguese influence on the Kerala coast.

The museum

The Indo-Portuguese Museum was created through the efforts of the late Dr Joseph Kureethara, Bishop of Kochi, to protect the Portuguese cultural heritage of Fort Kochi and the western parts of Kochi. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation of Lisbon chose the artworks from churches around Kochi, designed the displays, and helped fund the building, which has housed the museum since 2000. It stands inside the compound of the Bishop's House.

The collection

The museum has five sections: Altar, Treasure, Procession, Civil Life and Cathedral. Highlights include a 16th-century teak altar piece from the Church of Our Lady of Hope at Vypeen, a 19th-century chasuble from the Bishop's House, a 17th-century silver and wood processional cross from Santa Cruz Cathedral, and an Indo-Portuguese monstrance of the 18th–19th century.

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  Altar 16th-century teak altar piece.
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  Procession Silver and wood cross.
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  Treasure Monstrance and chalices.
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  Santa Cruz Cathedral Nearby in Fort Kochi.