Pallipuram Fort

Pallippuram Fort
Pallippuram, Vyppin, Ernakulam district
Ruins of the Portuguese fort in Vyppin
Pallippuram Fort
Coordinates	10.170°N 76.180°E / 10.170; 76.180
Type	Island fort
Site information
Owner	Government of Kerala
Controlled by	Portugal (1503-1661) Netherlands (1661-1789) Travancore (1789-1858) United Kingdom Travancore (1858-1947) India (1947-)
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Structure
Site history
Built	1503
Materials	Stone

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, a form popularly known as ayikkotta or alikotta.

Structure

Hexagonal in shape, the lowest internal floor of the fort is raised to a height of 5 feet (1.5 m). The gate and the door posts, and the lintels are finely dressed and arched while underground there is a cellar that was used to store gunpowder. A 3.25 by 3.25 feet (0.99 m × 0.99 m) well provided a source of fresh water.

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. All the six sides of the fort are overgrown with vegetation.

Gallery

• 
  Information board
• 
  Inner area of ayakotta

External links

• Cochin.org
• Enchantingkerala.org
• Pallippuram Fort on Flickr