St Thomas Chapel

Tucked inside the dense, working neighbourhood of Ginthupitiya in Colombo 13, St Thomas' Church carries a history that stretches back nearly two millennia — long before the British built its present structure in 1816. Today it stands as the oldest Anglican church in Sri Lanka, yet the story behind the site weaves together early Christian tradition, Portuguese conquest, Dutch occupation, and the tenacity of a Tamil-speaking congregation that refused to let it disappear.

Who was St Thomas, and what is his connection to Sri Lanka?

Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus, is perhaps best remembered in popular culture as "Doubting Thomas" — the disciple who initially refused to accept the resurrection without physical proof. He later became one of the most zealous missionaries of the early Christian church, travelling east to spread his faith through Persia and into India.

According to longstanding legend, Thomas stopped at the port of Colombo during his journey eastward. The waterfront at the time was home to fishing communities, and tradition holds that he delivered one of his earliest sermons to those gathered there. Whether or not the account is literally true, there is circumstantial archaeological evidence — described below — to suggest that some form of early Christianity took root in this corner of Colombo as a result.

Thomas eventually continued to southern India, where he is credited with founding seven and a half churches and where he reportedly spent the rest of his life. His relics are believed to have been enshrined at Mylapore, near present-day Chennai.

What did the Portuguese find at Ginthupitiya?

When the Portuguese arrived on the island in the early sixteenth century, their agenda combined territorial control with the forcible spread of Roman Catholicism. They dismantled shrines of other faiths and built churches across the coastal regions they occupied. In Ginthupitiya, they made a remarkable discovery: a Nestorian cross, which pointed to the earlier presence of Persian Christians in the area.

The antiquarian Frederick Medis and Professor Peter Courtenay, writing in his History of Ceylon, both note that this locality was then known as "San Thome Pitiya" — a name that itself gestures toward the Apostle Thomas. The Portuguese interpreted the cross and the residual Christian community they found there as confirmation that Thomas had indeed visited the site. They established a church on the spot and, under Franciscan supervision, developed a sizeable Catholic congregation.

How did the Dutch change the character of the site?

The Dutch displaced the Portuguese in the mid-seventeenth century and moved quickly to erase Catholic influence across the island. St Thomas' Church was seized from the Franciscan monks, its religious symbols were stripped away, and the building was repurposed as a Dutch marine headquarters for the Colombo coastal area.

During this period, three graveyards were laid out within the compound: one for Dutch nationals, one for local allies, and a third for outsiders and non-conformists, referred to in Dutch records as Genthos. It is widely believed that this third graveyard gave the neighbourhood its modern name — "Genthopitiya", which over time softened into "Ginthupitiya".

When did the current Anglican church take shape?

After the British took control of maritime Ceylon in the early nineteenth century, the local Tamil community — settlers with roots in Kerala — petitioned the new authorities to restore a place of Christian worship. Their persistence paid off, and in 1816 the British Governor Robert Brownrigg oversaw the construction of the present church building. It was consecrated as an Anglican place of worship and placed within what would become the Church of South India's network.

The result is a simple, unornamented structure that makes no grand architectural statement but carries an outsized weight of historical meaning. It is among the very few churches in South Asia where one building has successively served early Christian missionaries, Portuguese Catholics, Dutch military occupation, and finally British Anglicanism — all on a site that may have witnessed one of the earliest Christian sermons ever delivered in the Indian Ocean world.

What can visitors see at St Thomas' Church today?

The church itself is modest in scale, with a whitewashed exterior typical of colonial-era ecclesiastical buildings in Colombo. The surrounding Ginthupitiya neighbourhood is dense and busy, reflecting its place at the heart of Kotahena — one of Colombo's most historically layered districts.

• The church building (1816): The Governor Brownrigg-era structure, restored and in active use by an Anglican congregation.
• Historical graveyard remnants: Parts of the Dutch-era burial grounds remain within the church premises and offer a tangible link to the seventeenth-century occupation.
• Kotahena neighbourhood: The wider area contains several Catholic and Anglican churches, a reminder that this part of Colombo has been a centre of Christian worship — in various forms — for over five centuries.

Visitors interested in colonial Colombo often combine a stop at St Thomas' with a broader Colombo city tour, which typically covers the Fort district, Pettah market, and the city's other significant religious and heritage sites.

How do I get to St Thomas' Church from central Colombo?

The church is located in Ginthupitiya, within Kotahena (Colombo 13), roughly 3–4 kilometres north-east of Colombo Fort. The journey by taxi or tuk-tuk from the Fort area typically takes around 15–25 minutes depending on traffic, which can be heavy on the arterial roads leading through Pettah. Street parking in Ginthupitiya is limited, so self-drive visitors should plan accordingly. The church is an active place of worship, so visitors are expected to dress modestly and behave respectfully, particularly during service times.

Why does this church matter in the broader context of Sri Lankan religious history?

Sri Lanka's religious landscape is often characterised by its Buddhist majority heritage and the ancient sites associated with that tradition. Yet the island's coastal regions have absorbed wave after wave of foreign religious influence — first through trade routes that brought Islam and early Christianity, then through Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial rule. St Thomas' Church in Ginthupitiya sits at the intersection of all these currents.

The possible presence of a Nestorian or early Eastern Christian community here — centuries before European missionaries arrived — raises genuinely interesting questions about how Christianity first reached South Asia. The site is a reminder that the island's port cities were not passive recipients of outside faiths but active nodes in a wider network of religious and commercial exchange stretching from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Bengal.

For visitors with an interest in interfaith heritage, the broader Kotahena area rewards exploration. Within a short walk of St Thomas' you will find Catholic basilicas, Hindu kovils, and mosques — a concentration of religious architecture that reflects Colombo's long history as a cosmopolitan trading city.