Fort Emmanuel

Kochi, Kerala, India

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Fort Emmanuel, also known as Fort Manuel, is a ruined fort located at Fort Kochi Beach in Kochi, Kerala. It was built by the Portuguese in 1503 as a symbol of their strategic alliance with the Kingdom of Kochi, named after King Manuel I of Portugal.

The fort originally took the form of a square with bastions at each corner, constructed using double rows of coconut tree stems filled with earth, and protected by a wet ditch. It served as the center of Portuguese settlement and commercial control, including the nearby St. Francis Church.

The Portuguese held the fort until 1663 when the Dutch captured it, destroyed much of the Portuguese structures, and held it until the British took over in 1795. By 1806, most of the fort walls and bastions had been destroyed by the Dutch and later the British.