San Thome Basilica

San Thome Basilica is a Roman Catholic church in Chennai raised over what is held to be the tomb of St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, who is believed to have reached India in 52 AD. It is one of only three churches built over an apostle's tomb, the others being St. Peter's in Rome and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The church goes back to the Portuguese period, and the present Neo-Gothic building was consecrated in 1896.

An underground chapel holds the tomb and a relic of the saint, and a museum displays objects linked to him. Inside are a stained-glass window telling his story, 14 wooden stations of the cross and a statue of the Virgin Mary thought to have come from Portugal in 1543. Pope Pius XII made it a minor basilica in 1956, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1986.