Jew Street

Jew street in Mattancherry has numerous antique and craft stores. The antique sellers of these streets are the descendants of a fast dwindling population of Jews who settled down here in AD 52.

Scores of small firms huddle together in old, dilapidated buildings and the air is filled with the pungent aromas of cardamom, cumin, turmeric, ginger and cloves. Many Jewish names are visible on business premises and houses, but the community has diminished rapidly since Indian independence. The Jew Street is lined with shops that sell curios, antique pieces of crockery, carved wooden furniture, bronze and brass sculptures, remnants of traditional houses, and jewellery.