St Joseph's Church

The church in an ancient Buddhist capital

By Grant Cameron

October 20^th, 2019

350 years of Catholicism

Founded in 1666, St. Joseph’s church was the centre of the French Catholic mission until the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya in 1767 when the building was completely destroyed.

REBUILD AND RENOVATION

Rebuilt in 1847 in Romanesque style, and renovated several times, St. Joseph’s today is still an active church.

Religious tolerance

In the below image one can see a mosque in the middle background, to its left a Buddhist temple, and in the far right distance the restored ruins of Wat Chai Wattanaram.

The riverbank church stands out through its bright yellow color with its clock tower, a beautifully adorned dome and stained glass windows of Biblical stories.

In the large well kept grounds there is a garden and a small lake. There is a graveyard dating back to the Ayutthaya era, with the oldest graves being those of the original missionaries.

For those interested, the aerial photographs were taken with a DJI drone, quite early in the morning with a low but quite strong sun.

After the major flooding throughout Thailand in 2011, authorities have built prevention bund walls along the riverbank to try and prevent future reoccurrence of flood damage.

Getting there

St. Joseph’s church is on the South bank of the Chao Phraya river opposite the historical island of Ayutthaya. It is located just East of Khlong Takhian between Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Phutthaisawan.