Fort Emmanuel
{{About|the fort in Kerala, India|the fort in Malta|Fort Manoel|the fur trading post in North Dakota|Fort Lisa (North Dakota)}}
{{Distinguish|Fort Kochi}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox historic site
| native_name = ഫോർട്ട് കൊച്ചി
| native_language = ml
| image = View of Cochin.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Watercolour painting of the fort of Kochi, with a British flag, from across the backwaters, unknown artists, around 1800 AD.
| designation1 =
| designation1_date =
| designation1_number =
| designation1_criteria =
| designation1_type = Cultural
| designation1_free1name = State Party
| designation1_free1value = {{IND}}
| designation1_free2name = Region
| designation1_free2value =
| elevation =
| built = {{start date and age|1503|}}
| architect =
| architecture = Portuguese
| location = Fort Kochi, Kochi, India
| coordinates = {{coord|9.9663|76.2391|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Kerala
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
}}
Fort Emmanuel, also known as Fort Manuel, is a ruined fort located at Fort Kochi Beach in Kochi (Cochin), Kerala, India.{{cite web|url=https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/fort-immanuel-fort-kochi/286|title=Fort Immanuel at Fort Kochi|publisher=keralatourism.org|access-date=22 October 2014}} It was built by the Portuguese to be a bastion & a symbol of the strategic alliance between the Kingdom of Cochin and the Kingdom of Portugal.{{Cite web|title=Fort Immanuel at Fort Kochi {{!}} Ernkulam Destinations|url=https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/fort-immanuel-fort-kochi/286|access-date=19 August 2020|website=Kerala Tourism|language=en}} Named after Manuel I of Portugal, it was the first European fort built in Asia.Logan, William. Malabar. District Manual. Asian Educational Services, 1887.
History
In September 1503, the King of Kochi granted permission to Afonso de Albuquerque to build Fort Emmanuel near the waterfront of the Arabian Sea. The construction was commenced on 26 September, and "it took the shape of a square with flanking bastions at the corners mounted with ordnance". The walls were made of double rows of coconut tree stems securely fastened together and with earth rammed firmly between; it was further protected by a wet ditch. The fort was christened on the morning of 1 October 1503 "Emmanuel", after the King of Portugal.
The fort was built at the water-bound region towards the south-west of the Kochi mainland. The fortifications were reinforced in 1538. The Portuguese built their settlement behind the fort, including the St Francis Church. Fort Kochi remained in Portuguese possession until 1663, when the Dutch captured the territory and destroyed the Portuguese institutions. The Dutch held the fort in their possession until 1795, when the British took control by defeating the Dutch. By 1806 the Dutch, and later the British, had destroyed most of the fort walls and its bastions.
In Old Kochi and alongside the Fort Kochi beach, there is a partially restored gun battery and other remains of ramparts and fortifications, which are now tourist destinations.
Gallery
Gunnary Part of fort emmanuel.JPG|cannon bastion located at the Fort Kochi Beach
File:Fort cochin relics.jpg
File:Fort-kochi-relics2.jpg
References
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External links
{{Commons-inline|Fort Emmanuel, Kochi, Kerala}}
{{Forts in India |state=expanded}}
{{Forts and fortresses of the Portuguese empire}}
{{Kochi|state=collapsed}}
{{Tourism in Kerala}}
Category:1500s establishments in Portuguese India
Category:1503 establishments in India
Category:Archaeological sites in Kerala
Category:Buildings and structures in Kochi
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1503