Bangkok's Florentine dome: Santa Cruz and the Luso-Thai quarter of Kudi Chin

On the western bank of the Chao Phraya, in the Wat Kanlaya sub-district of Thonburi, there is a corner of Bangkok that has spoken Portuguese for two and a half centuries. It is called Kudi Chin, a small Catholic community that grew up around 1770, when the Siamese sovereign granted a plot of land to the Catholics of Portuguese descent who had arrived after the fall of Ayutthaya. The heart of the quarter is the church of Santa Cruz, in Thai Wat Sang Tha Khru's, whose pale silhouette and dome can be seen from the river long before you set foot in it.

The church

The building you visit today is not the original. The first church dated from the time of the founding and served as the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam until 1821; a second structure dated to 1845. The present church was built between 1913 and 1916 in a neo-Renaissance style, designed by the Italian architects Annibale Rigotti and Mario Tamagno, the same names behind some of the most important civic buildings of early twentieth-century Bangkok. The octagonal dome and the proportions of the whole openly recall the Italian Renaissance, so much so that many visitors think at once of the cathedral of Florence: a European reference transplanted among the low houses of a Thai riverside quarter.

How to get there

Kudi Chin is reached almost only on foot, and that is part of its character. The easiest way is to cross the Chao Phraya on one of the ferries linking the Pak Khlong Talat bank (the flower market, on the Rattanakosin side) to the Thonburi shore, getting off near the Wat Kalayanamit temple, which borders the quarter. From there you continue along narrow pedestrian lanes between pastel walls, hanging laundry, small shrines and courtyards: cars do not pass, and the church appears at the end of one of these little streets. The community is still active, so it is best to respect service times and enter discreetly when the building is open.

The neighbourhood sweet

The second reason to come all the way here is the sweet. Khanom farang kudi chin is a small cake of Portuguese heritage, made with flour, eggs and sugar and baked with embers above and below, traditionally topped with raisins, candied pumpkin and cubes of sweet dough. The name itself says it all: khanom is "sweet", farang indicates the Western origin, kudi chin the place. It survives thanks to a few families in the quarter who still bake it in their home ovens, and tasting it fresh from the oven, strolling among the lanes, is the most direct way to grasp that this enclave is a living cultural crossroads and not a museum.

Nearby

Around the church it is worth getting lost with no set destination: the small community museum Baan Kudichin tells the Luso-Siamese story through objects and photographs, and the nearby temples and shrines (including the great Wat Kalayanamit and, a little further, the remains of the Chinese and Muslim presence along the bank) show how layered this stretch of Thonburi is. It is an itinerary comfortably done in half a day, ideal early in the morning or in the late afternoon to avoid the heat. Best time: the dry season, from November to February, when the light on the river is clear and walks along the embankments are more pleasant. Very few tourists, short distances, and a slice of Renaissance Italy where you least expect it.

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