| THE DOMINICAN CHURCH OF SAN PETRO |
| The ruins of the Dominican Church of San Petro are located within the Portuguese settlement, off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in present Samphao Lom sub-district (1). Since the early 16th century there were contacts between Portugal and Siam. Portuguese ships arrived at the port of Ayutthaya and with the time Portuguese merchants, shipbuilders and soldiers of fortune came to settle. The Portuguese community growing, there was a request for religious support. The first Dominican missionaries, Friar Jeronimo da Cruz and Sebastiâo da Canto arrived in 1567 in Siam and were given a residence befitting to them in one of the best locations in the city. The Black Friar (2) Jeronimo da Cruz together with two new missionaries were although killed in the Burmese attack of Ayutthaya in 1569 [1]. After the war, new priests arrived and the Roman Catholic parish grew. The church of San Petro for the Dominican sect (locally called Ban Jacobin) was one of the three parishes set up in the Portuguese settlement; the two others being: the church of San Paolo for the Jesuit sect (Ban Jesuit) and a church for the Franciscan sect. The Dominican Church was a rectangular structure 50 m long by 40 m width. The church entry faced east towards the Chao Phraya River. The base of the building was 1.6 m high. The church contained separate functions such as a ceremonial hall and a residence for the priest. In front of the church was a cemetery in which more than 200 burials were found. The skeletons uncovered were mostly those of mestizos from intermarriages. The settlement was destroyed during the Burmese attack of Ayutthaya in 1767. On 21 March 1767 the Dominican parish priest surrendered to the Burmese together with its Christians. Two days later the Dominican church was plundered. The ruins of the church were excavated in the period 1984 - 1995 by the Fine Arts Departments with funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (3) in Lisbon. HRH Princess Galyani Vathana presided over the opening ceremony of the Portuguese Archaeological site on 2 April 1995. The ancient remains of the San Petro Dominican Church, human skeletons, and some antique objects such as tobacco pipes, coins, and accessories for a religious ceremony were found at the site. A graveyard and the ruins of a Catholic church are all that are left standing. Information on the excavation at the Portuguese settlement and a list of the excavated objects can be found here. Footnotes: (1) Free translated the “Capsized Junk” sub-district (2) The Dominicans are referred to as Blackfriars on account of the black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits. In France, the Dominicans are also known as Jacobins, because their first convent in Paris bore the name Saint Jacques, and Jacques is Jacobus in Latin. Their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were the Domini canes, or Hounds of the Lord. Members of the order generally carry the letters O.P. standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers, after their names. (3) The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private institution of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education and science. Created by a clause in Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian's will, the Foundation's statutes were approved in 1956. The head-office is located in Lisbon. The Foundation promotes Portuguese culture abroad, and operates a program to preserve evidence of the Portuguese presence in the world. http://www.gulbenkian.pt References: [1] A Brief History Of The Catholic Church In Thailand by Fr. Surachai Chumsriphan (2002) - www.sspxasia.com [2] www.newadvent.org |
| Text & photographs by Tricky Vandenberg - July 2009 |
| (Riverside view) |
| (View from the west) |
| (Foundations of the Church) |
| (Foundations of the Church) |
| (Graveyard) |
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