The Lost of an Ancient Monument of the Jesuite’s Church

The Lost of an Ancient Monument of the Jesuite’s Church: Discovery of the Ancient Buddhist Community in the Area of the Portuguese Camp

Bidya SRIWATTANASARN
Ph.D. Candidate (Silpakorn University)
http:bloggerpitayajaraya.blogspot.com

There were only two excavations in the Portuguese Camp. The first one, took place in 1983, at Igreja de Santo Dominicano ( San Petro Church), under the co-operation of Fine Art Department (Thailand) and Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal). The second one , took place in 2008, under the operation of the Fine Art Department, at a mound , for a long time, misunderstanding as the Portuguese Jesuit’s Church (San Paulo Church). Discovery of the excavation confirmed that a location the San Paulo Church has not yet found nowadays.

Although, many documents indicated the location of the Portuguese Churches rather clearfully, however, there were a bit information to be considred, even in the map of Phraya Boran Rachathanin (1926)
Though, demonstrating the landscape of “Siam ou Iudia” rather roughly, I admitted that a map of Coutaulin, “Siam ou Iudia (Capitalle du Royaumme de Siam” (1686). depicted lively details of the capital city of Siam , such a streets, churches, houses, human, animals and trees, especially, the location of the “Eglise Paroissial de St. Dominique and Eglise Paroisaial de la Compagne de Jesus” .

Coutaulin’s Map (1686)



And according to Coutaulin’s Map, a map in an account of Simon de Laloubère, also located only two churches in the Portuguese camp, such a the Portuguese Jacobin and the Portuguese Jesuite, as below




A map in the account of Simon de Laloubère, located the Jesuite’s Church (lower arrow) beside the waterside as the Santo Dominican;s Church.
Unfortunately, the map of Praya Boran (1926), depicted wrongly that the position of the Santo Dominican Church was situated next to the Hollanda Building and the Jesuite’s Church was established opposite to the Japanese Village.




A copy of the Map of Praya Boran(1926)





Plan of the Portuguese Camp in Ayutthaya by Dr. Joaquim de Campos, which Jose Martims, the writer of the web site “aquimaria.com” depicted that, in 1982, after 48 years of the visit of Dr. Campos, there’ s only a bit changing in the area of the Portuguese Camp. The located all 3 churches of the camp as an Igreja de S. Francisco, an Igreja de S. Dominigo and an Igreja de S. Paulo, from north to south orderly. The “Cemitério”, showed on the lower part, still being a graveyard of the present Muslims people.




A Plan of Dr. Joaquim de Campos, rotated 90 degree to be better observed.(Data from “PORTUGAL NA TAILÂNDIA:Cinco Séculos de História - Comemorações de 2011” by José Martims in http//portugalnatailandia.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive_html, Muito obrigado !)


A Plan of The Portuguese Camp surveyed by Pratipat Poompongpaet, director of the excavation site in 1983, positioned the Jesuite’s Church on the same area as showing in the plan of Dr. Joaquim de Campos.



A satellite image, from north to south, San Franciscan Church, Dominican Church, an area that a local people suggested that it might be the site of the Jesuite’s Church and Wat Phochai-rang Temple, which scholars misunderstood as the Jesuite’s Church for decades.



A first red-roof house of a Thai Muslim people on the right top of the image, perhaps, constructed on the mound of the Jesuite’s Church. The site of Wat Phochai-rang is located near a white -roof house in the middle of the image . Klong Thed(Thed Canal) is upon a small rainy-season swamp at the middle of the image too.



Environment of the mound of Wat Phochai-rang before an excavation of the Fine Art Department.


A basement of small terra-cotta gold plated Buddha, found during my surveying in early March 2008.



Eastern part of the mound before the excavation in 2008.


The Site after the excavation, complimentary of Patrapong Kaoghern, Head of Academic Sub-division, Office of Archaeology (Ayutthaya), late Ayutthaya period.


Pieces of boundary stone found at the site, dated back to the late Ayutthaya period.

Small Buddha Images of late Ayutthaya Period, as evidences of the Buddhist Temple.



One of small bottle, perhaps used as gun-powdered container, dating back to the Southern Sung Dynasty of China(circa c.15-18)




In conclusion, all evidences found at the mould of Wat Phochai-rang indicated that, at least, there was an ancient local community developed in the southwest area of the Portuguese camp, long before the coming of the Portuguese to the capital city of Ayutthaya in early the 16th Century and no in situ found at Wat Phochai-rang’s site concerned to the being of the Jesuite’s Chu