Queen of the Arabian Sea — spice trade, Chinese fishing nets, and backwater cuisine
Kochi (Cochin) is Kerala's commercial capital — a port city whose Fort Kochi peninsular quarter contains the most intact colonial layering in India: a Portuguese church (1503), Dutch Palace (1555), and Chinese fishing nets still worked by 4-person teams at the waterfront, all within walking distance. The houseboat experience on the Kerala backwaters — 900km of canals, rivers, and lakes between the coast and the Western Ghats — is one of India's most celebrated journeys.
Kochi was the first European colonial settlement in India — Vasco da Gama arrived in 1498 and the Portuguese built a fort in 1503, followed by the Dutch (1663) and the British (1795). Its position as the hub of the spice trade made it the most contested port in Asia for 300 years. Vasco da Gama died and was buried here in 1524 (his remains were later moved to Lisbon); the 500-year-old St Francis Church where he was first interred is the oldest European church in India.