community
Taprobane: Persian Christian church (Anuradhapura anchor)
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka · India & Indian Ocean
8.324, 80.413
Approximate location. The map shows a region, not a pin.
Attested. The church is attested by Cosmas. Its location in Anuradhapura is not stated, so the pin is an anchor. The cross's dating and link to the community are debated.
Cosmas says Taprobane (Sri Lanka) had a church of Persian Christians living there, with a presbyter and deacon ordained in Persia. A cross found at Anuradhapura, the island's capital, is sometimes linked to this community. This is attested 6th-century evidence of the Church of the East in South Asia.
Source stance: neutral. Traveler's report; archaeology for the cross.
People and groups named here
- Cosmas Indicopleustes (witness)
Sources
- Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography, Book XI (Taprobane and its Persian Christians)
tr. J. W. McCrindle, Hakluyt Society (1897), public domain; tertullian.org. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Sacred City of Anuradhapura (UNESCO World Heritage List no. 200)
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 49863: Anuradhapura
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.