The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c10.79

v1.c10.79

When St. Francis Xavier passed through St. Thome, in 1545, he was told that the body of the Apostle was kept in the place, but from his own letter we may conclude that he did not believe it: "Ay en Santo Thomae mas de cien portugueses casados: ai vna iglesia mui deuota,y todos tienen que esta alli el cuerpo del glorioso Apostol". (There are at St. Thome more than a hundred Portuguese all married; they have a very devout church and all think that the body of the glorious Apostle is lying there). *M. H. S.J., Mon. Xav.*, I, p. 387. The famous Dutch traveller Nieuhoff passed through St. Thome in 1662, and while describing the city, he says: "Here yo see the two cities was seven leagues ¹. Around the so-called tomb of the Apostle, the Portuguese built a small city not independent but subject to the King of Vijayanagara; "which Citie, (St. Thome)", says Frederick, "although it be not very great, yet in my judgement, it is the fairest in all that part of the Indies" ²