22 DECEMBER 2014 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: The interior of Santa Cruz Catholic Church in Bangkok. There has been a Catholic church on the site since 1770. The current church was finished in 1916. It is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Thailand. Now the neighborhood around the church is known for the Thai adaptation of Portuguese cakes baked in the neighborhood. Several hundred Siamese (Thai) Buddhists converted to Catholicism in the 1770s. Some of the families started baking the cakes. When the Siamese Empire in Ayutthaya was sacked by the Burmese, the Portuguese and Thai Catholics fled to Thonburi, in what is now Bangkok. The Portuguese established a Catholic church near the new Siamese capital. There are still a large number of Thai Catholics living in the neighborhood around the church. PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download