Pallippuram Fort-North Paravur-Pallippuram-Vypeen Island

Pallippuram Fort – North Paravur

Pallippuram is a village on Vypeen island, in the Kochi, Kerala, south India. The village and Pallippuram Fort is located approximately 25 km from Ernakulam and 20 km from Cochin International Airport. The east border is Veeranpuzha, the north extension of Vembanad Lake and the Indian Ocean in the west. In English, this place is known as “Palliport”.

Pallippuram Fort – History

Pallippuram Fort is a fort in Pallippuram, Vyppin, Ernakulam district of Kerala, south India. It was built by the Portuguese in 1503 and is the oldest existing European fort in India. The Dutch captured the fort in 1661 and sold it to the Kingdom of Travancore in 1789. The fort is situated in the northern extremity of Vypeen island and is hexagonal in shape.

Pallippuram fort_ North Paravur - Muziris Heritage Site — Entrance to Pallippuram Fort at North Paravur

Pallippuram Fort – Significance

There is an opening to the north which leads to the cellar. There is a circular slab stone, on which was installed a pillar on which the radiating wooden struts supporting the upper two floors must have rested.

Each face of the fort measures 32 feet (9.8 m) long and 34 feet (10 m) high while the walls are six feet thick. Each face of the fort has three embrasures, one above the other. The central opening of the embrasures measures 2 by 2.5 feet (0.61 m × 0.76 m). The fort could have mounted as many as guns commanding all quarters round it. There is an open space inside affording easy passage to the cellar.

The fort is constructed using laterite, chunam, and wood. The walls are thickly plastered using mortar. The door way in the central circular slab is made of granite.