Conti, in the following century, speaks of the church in
which St. Thomas lay buried, as large and beautiful, and says there were
1000 Nestorians in the city. Joseph of Cranganore, the Malabar Christian
who came to Europe in 1501, speaks like our traveller of the worship paid
to the Saint, even by the heathen, and compares the church to that of St.
John and St. Paul at Venice. Certain Syrian bishops sent to India in 1504,
whose report is given by Assemani, heard that the church had begun to be
occupied by some Christian people. But Barbosa, a few years later, found it
half in ruins and in the charge of a Mahomedan Fakir, who kept a lamp
burning.
There are two St. Thomas's Mounts in the same vicinity, the Great and the
Little Mount. A church was built upon the former by the Portuguese and
some sanctity attributed to it, especially in connection with the cross
mentioned below, but I believe there is no doubt that the Little Mount
was the site of the ancient church.
The Portuguese ignored the ancient translation of the Saint's remains to
Edessa, and in 1522, under the Viceroyalty of Duarte Menezes, a commission
was sent to Mailapur, or San Tome as they called it, to search for the
body.
