Saint Joseph Church

Archbishop Langbert Edlamote, Head of the Missionaries from Paris and one of the seven Heads of Mission appointed by the Pope to disseminate Christianity in the Far East, arrived in Ayutthaya in 1662. Initially, he aimed to teach Christianity in China but his ship was wrecked in a storm and, anyway, at that time Christianity was being violently suppressed in China so the Archbishop decided to reside in the Vietnamese camp in Ayutthaya.

In 1666, during the reign of King Narai the Great, Archbishop Langbert Edlamote and two French missionaries asked the King’s permission for land to build a church and a school to serve as a venue for religious rites and as the centre of the community as well as to educate young children. The church and school fulfilled their duties until they were burnt down during the second Fall of Ayutthaya.