Kozhikode, Coastal trade city in Kerala, India
Kozhikode is a port metropolis along the southwestern Malabar Coast that spreads for several kilometers beside the Arabian Sea. Narrow lanes with spice warehouses lead to wider roads where wooden boats dock alongside modern ferries at the harbor.
Vasco da Gama arrived at this coastline in 1498, opening the first sea route between Europe and Asia. Traders from the Middle East had already established regular ship connections between Arabian ports and this trading point centuries earlier.
Muslim traders conduct business in cafés beside Hindu temples, while Christian churches hold services along the same street. Malayalam speakers gather in tea shops and bookstores where poetry collections sit next to traditional dance masks in the window.
Buses connect residential neighborhoods to the center in about thirty minutes, while the railway station offers trains to other coastal towns along the Arabian Sea. Rickshaws navigate side streets too narrow for larger vehicles.
Local weavers still produce calico, an unbleached cotton fabric whose name comes from the former Portuguese designation for this place as Calicut. Traders sell this cloth at the same markets where medieval merchants exchanged textiles between Asia and Europe.
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