Fort Thomas

Fort Thomas, also known as St. Thomas Fort or Tangasseri Fort, is a historic ruined fortification situated in the beach town of Tangasseri within Kollam city, Kerala, India. Located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, the site lies approximately five kilometers from the Kollam city center and seventy-one kilometers from the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. Originally constructed in 1518 by the Portuguese under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, the structure was built using sandstone and lime mortar in the distinctive Portuguese Colonial architectural style. It was initially established to protect the burgeoning trade interests of the Portuguese, who had set up a trading port in the region as early as 1505.

The fort holds significant historical value as a testament to the colonial struggles for control over the Malabar Coast. After its construction, the fort served as a strategic stronghold that changed hands multiple times among European powers. Following the Portuguese era, the Dutch captured the town and fort in 1661, making it the capital of Dutch Malabar for several years. Control subsequently passed to the British East India Company in 1795. In 1823, the British leased the fort to the Kingdom of Travancore for a twenty-year period. Historically, the area was known as the "gold village" due to its association with Chinese trade dating back to the first millennium AD before European colonization intensified.

Today, Fort Thomas exists primarily as a ruin, with only fragments of the original twenty-foot-high structure remaining visible facing the beach. Despite its dilapidated condition, the site remains an important cultural landmark and is currently managed and preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India. The remnants serve as a quiet reminder of the region's complex maritime history and the successive waves of colonial influence that shaped the coastal landscape of Kerala. Visitors can view the surviving walls which stand as a monument to the area's past as a vital hub for international commerce and military strategy.