Cidade Velha
Archipelago
Cidade Velha (formerly Ribeira Grande) is the former capital of Cape Verde on the island of Santiago. It is situated at a height of 5 meters above sea level and has about 12,000 inhabitants.
History
Ribeira Grande ( Portuguese: large valley ) was built by Antonio da Noli as the first settlement on the Cape Verde Islands in the year 1462. She was also the first permanent European settlement in the tropics. Settlers were recruited from the island of Madeira. 1466 was the settlement of the royal monopoly on the slave trade and then rapidly won great importance. Slaves from Guinea- Bissau and Sierra Leonean were shipped from here to Brazil and the Caribbean. The great valley of Ribeira Grande served as a natural prison. In the church, the slaves were baptized, and thus achieved higher prices.
1532 was the place bishopric and 1572 you were awarded the title of city ( Cidade Portuguese ). Vasco da Gama ( 1497 ) and Christopher Columbus ( 1498) laid here on their voyages of discovery. 1585 and 1586 Sir Francis Drake raided the city twice.
The importance of Ribeira Grande in the 17th century as a supply port and the center of the Portuguese slave trade ended in 1712 by the Frenchman Jaques Cassart who plundered the town and destroyed.
Today Cidade Velha is a small fishing village, formerly the Valley of the slaves is agriculturally used (sugar cane, coconuts, mangos ).
Attractions
The Pelourinho ( Pillory ) from 1512 reminds us of the history of the slave market in Ribeira Grande.
The church of Nossa Senhora do Rossario dates from 1495. Besides ruins of the church and the convent of S. Francisco (former seminary ) and the ruins of the cathedral are still preserved.
1587 has started with the construction of the Forte de São Filipe Real after the pirate attacks had heaped.
In June 2009, Cidade Velha was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.