Kottayam Cheriapally (St. Mary's Orthodox Church)

St Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, known as Kottayam Cheriapally, stands on the road from Kottayam to Kumarakom and belongs to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Its name means 'small church', though its appearance belies it, and built in 1579 it is one of the oldest and best-preserved churches in the state. Until the Old Seminary opened in 1815 it was long the church's headquarters.

The Thekkumkur king Goda Varman Manikandan gave tax-free land for the church. An earlier church, Valiyapally, was built in 1550, but the congregation split and the dissidents built Cheriapally; since two places of worship were not allowed in one village, the king is said to have divided the village in two. The church was built by a Portuguese architect, Antony, with local craftsmen, and its architecture closely resembles that of Kerala temples of the time, its walls covered with paintings and murals. It was the first church in India to receive a relic of St Mary, a fragment of her holy girdle.