cats of kochi

Language

English is the only language this site is written in. More will appear in this list as they are finished, so there is nothing else to choose yet.

cats of kochi

Language

Englishthe only one, so far

Places
Sannxavier, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Island

Vypeen Island

Local tradition says the island rose from the swamp in 1341.

All 1 photographs

Vypeen Island, also called Vypin or Waipey, guards the entrance to Kochi harbour across the backwater from Fort Kochi. Local tradition says it rose from the swamp in 1341, remembered in the name Poothoo Veppoo, or New Vypeen. The island combines fishing villages, beaches, historic churches, and ferry connections with the mainland, offering a quieter view of Kochi's harbour than the busy heritage streets.

Did you know

  1. Vypin Island did not exist before 1341. A flood that destroyed the port at Kodungallur carved out the channel that created it.

  2. When the Dutch prohibited Roman Catholic worship inside Fort Kochi, Catholic priests were banished across the backwater to the newly formed island of Vypeen. There they established the Church of Our Lady of Hope, whose sanctuary still contains the historic altar and old decorative screen from Fort Kochi's original Franciscan church.

  3. The tenacious mud bank of Narakkal, on Vypeen Island's coast, acts like an immense spring or a stiff piece of jelly beneath the sea. It yields to rough ocean waves, absorbs their force, and keeps the surrounding water calm even during violent monsoons, creating a natural maritime haven.

Drawn from OpenStreetMap, by its contributors.