St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Sampaloor, popularly known as Sampaloor Palli, is a parish church coming under the Diocese of Kottapuram of the Archdiocese of Verapoly. It is situated along Palayamparambu Road, at Sampaloor, Mala in Thrissur district of the south Indian state of Kerala. The church is best known for hosting a number of Christian saints and missionaries including Francis Xavier, John de Britto, Arnos Pathiri and Constanzo Beschi.An important centre of the Jesuits priests during the reign of the Portuguese, Sampaloor still contains numerous monuments from that era. They include the St. Paul’s Seminary, the St. Paul’s Monastery and the St. Paul’s Press and a church dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. The name Sampaloor itself finds its roots in San-paul-ur.
Sampaloor became an eminent centre of nurturing language in South India, with the first Malayalam printing being done here at the St. Paul’s Press, which was set up by Jesuit Priests in 1663. Another integral part of Sampaloor’s eventful history was the attack mounted by Tipu Sultan, who was fighting the British during the middle periods of the 18th century, which led to the destruction of numerous institutions of historical prominence. The church was razed to the ground, but was reconstructed the time of Bernadian Bechinelly, who was the vicar apostolate of Varapuzha in 1862 and the present church was blessed in 1979.
The Historical Museum of Sampaloor and the Anglo-Indian Cultural Museum both have numerous artefacts that help you understand the unique history of this region.
The Historical Museum of Sampaloor houses many objects when the place was the centre of Jesuit Mission. During their time there were St. Paul’s seminary, St, Paul’s Press, St. Paul’s Monastery, and St. Francis Xavier’s Church. The Cannon balls that were used during the time of Tippu, holy vestments of the priests of the Monastery, Tablets that describe the old liturgical order, instruments used to make the hosts, Tabernacle of theold church, statues of saints made of wood and metals, Lamps used for adoration, lamp-sticks, the Cross made of metal belongs to 15th century and ”Vazhuthayodukal” of the same century are some of the attractions of this Museum.
