Santa Cruz Church ---------------------------- Santa Cruz Church  Crossing to the Thon Buri side, the revered Santa Cruz Church stands on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River and is home to the old Christian-Chinese community, known as Kadeejeen. Dating to 1769, King Taksin allocated the land to Portuguese migrants and allowed French missionaries to build a wooden chapel so that residents could conduct the daily rites. To enhance the facilities, Bishop Jean-Paul Courvezy spent two years reconstructing the new church in a mixture of Thai, Chinese and Western architecture.  In 1913, the church was refurbished in a Renaissance and Neoclassical style. The interior decor is simple yet luxurious with a high, gold-gilded ceiling adorned with hundreds of glittering stars and arched stained glass windows inspired by the life of Christ.  Just a few minutes’ walk from Santa Cruz, Navinee Pongthai and her family transformed their Thai-Portuguese wooden house into a cafe-cum-museum called Baan Kudeejeen and boasts an interesting exhibition that explains the history of Portuguese communities from the Ayutthaya era to present.  Here, visitors can take a break with fresh herbal drinks and sample the community’s much-loved kanom farang kudee jeen, a cupcake-like pastry that is soft on the inside but crispy on the outside.