Portuguese SettlementAyutthayaTricky Vandenberg

Scholars indicate in the 80s that the Jesuit Church San Paolo must be situated in coordinates 14.32 100.57

In 2008 excavations held in situ reveal no indications of a Christian church, but Buddhist artifacts instead.

The conclusion of these excavations is that the San Paolo Church has not been located as yet.A new trial to situate the former church is needed as thus.Which ancient maps indicate the Jesuit Church?de La Loubre's mapde Courtaulins map

de La Loubre's Map

OBJECTIVE 1Based on de La Loubre's (dLL) map retrace the position of the San Paolo Jesuit Church.METHOD 1st StepCropped the southern part of dLLs map.Set transparency in order to make an overlay.

Transparent overlay of the southern area

MATCHING NORTHERN BANK OF CHAO PHRAYA RIVERX

MATCHING WESTERN BANK OF CHAO PHRAYA RIVERX

MATCHING THE FRENCH & THE PORTUGUESE CHURCHESX

ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMSOverlay of the southern part does not match; neither the northern or western river banks; nor the Points of Interest such as the French and the Portuguese churches.dLLs map is not in proportion vis--vis the present aerial view of the terrain.It is a largely out of axis and deformed map.

METHOD 2nd StepNext step - made a smaller overlay, only covering in part the Portuguese settlement.

Smaller transparent overlay of the Portuguese area

Based on the location of the San Petro Church as reference point

ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMSOverlay of the Portuguese area gives more or less a position, but this small overlay is also not proportional. METHOD 3th StepMeasurement via the scale indicated on dLLs map.Scale is in Toises and old French measurement used before 1812.1 T = 6 feet = 1.95 m approxdLLs map has a (approx) scale of 1/300.000

CalculationScale 1/300.0001mm = 30 cmDistance between the outer moats = approx 700 m.Distance between the central point in both plots = approx 850 m.ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMSCentral point San Paolo is about 50 m below the moat coming from Khlong Thet.But: Not original dLL map / dLL map is approx drawing, not a drawing by engineer.

850 mChurch to ChurchPositionof San PaoloKhlong ThetPosition of the San Paolo Church in relation to the San Petro Church following de La Loubre's map scale.

850 mChurch to ChurchAdjusted positionof San PaoloKhlong ThetAdjusted position of the San Paolo Church in relation to Khlong Thet.Grounds 150 x 65 m

OBJECTIVE 2Comparison with aerial map of 1944 of the Williams Hunt Collection (WHC).RESULTWat Pho Chai clearly visible.East of Wat Pho Chai there is a square visible formed by the east moat of Wat Pho Chai Rang and two moats running from Khlong Thet towards the Chao Phraya River. These two moats are likely the extensions of the northern and southern moat of Wat Pho Chai Rang.

Williams-Hunt Aerial Photos Collection Original from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Digital Data from Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS),Kyoto University Digital Archive from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA), Thailand

Williams-Hunt Aerial Photos Collection Original from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Digital Data from Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS),Kyoto University Digital Archive from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA), Thailand

Wat JaengWat Po ChaiAncient Moat?Khlong ThetAncient Moat?Williams-Hunt Aerial Photos Collection Original from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Digital Data from Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS),Kyoto University Digital Archive from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA), Thailand Positionof San Paolo

ConclusionsAs the WHC map shows a square formed by moats nearly identical as on dLLs map, there is a possibility of a match.With the restricted number of evidences of the area, author exhausted all his means. Only physical control in the terrain remains, to check of the above possible match can be confirmed.Next slide shows the areas where possibly traces from the church could be found.

Overall possible location of the church based on WHCEstimated location of the churchPossible San Paolo GroundsBased on dLL

DisclaimerAuthor has insufficient scientifically evidence to delineate the exact position of the San Paolo Church.The above presentation is only a trial to locate the Jesuit church, and does not guarantee in any way that any remains of the church would be found during any excavation.

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