Santa Cruz Church and Kudi Chin

About this place

A pink-domed Catholic church on the Thonburi bank, at the heart of Kudi Chin, one of Bangkok's oldest neighbourhoods. King Taksin granted the land in 1769 to the Portuguese who had supported him after the fall of Ayutthaya; they built a wooden church that was rebuilt several times until the present one rose in 1916 in Italian Renaissance style, its dome and bell tower visible from the river. Around the church run narrow, quiet lanes of a quarter whose people still descend from Portuguese and Thai families, with old wooden houses, a small house museum telling the community's story, and family bakeries making khanom farang Kudi Chin, small sponge cakes of egg, sugar and raisins, a Portuguese recipe handed down for centuries. Entry is free. The church is a place of worship, so visit outside Mass in modest dress and quietly. The lanes are residential, so respect people's homes. The nicest way there is a small ferry across the river from the Pak Khlong Talat side or Chinatown, or on foot over Memorial Bridge. Walk the quarter between Wat Kalayanamit and Wat Prayurawongsawat; the three sit along the river within half an hour's walk.