Palayur Church

The Palayur Mar Thoma Major Archiepiscopal Church in Thrissur district is, by St Thomas Christian tradition, founded by the apostle St Thomas in 52 AD, and the first baptisms in India are said to have taken place here. It is one of the seven churches he is believed to have established, and one of only three of them, with Kottakkavu and Niranam, that claim an unbroken presence on the same site.

Tradition says St Thomas came by boat through the backwaters from Muziris to meet Jewish merchants at Judankunnu, the Jews' hill. The old landing place, now dry land called Bottukulam, is kept as a memorial. The original small church survives on its first site, with improvements made around it in the 17th century by Giacomo Fenicio. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Thrissur is the church's custodian.