Santa Cruz Church, Bangkok

The Santa Cruz Church is the first Roman Catholic church in Thonburi. Santa Cruz are Portuguese words meaning holy cross. The beautiful church is located in the KUDEEJEEN community where the Portuguese people settled during the Thonburi Kingdom. A wooden church was built in 1770, and open for services for over 400 Catholic Portuguese. The wooden church was replaced by a second one in 1835 under Bishop Pallegoix. The second church was built in the style of Chinese shrines, so the people at that time started calling the region KUDEEJEEN referring to the style of architecture.

In 1913, Father Khulianmokin Dakrut raised funds to construct the current Santa Cruz church using a combination of neoclassical and Ranaissance architecture. The wall were decorated with beautiful craft brick patterns. However, the unique characteristics of the building was the tower with the dome roof, similar to the one in Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. The area around the church is used by KUDEEJEEN community as an open area for the locals. If you visit the church, don't forget to also try renowned local snacks in KUDEEJEEN.