Welcome to Praia, the capital and largest city of Cape Verde. Its name is simply Portuguese for beach. Praia lies on the southern coast of Santiago island and is the political, economic and cultural centre of the country. The village grew up beside a natural harbour, and its position on a high plateau gave it better protection from pirates than the older town of Ribeira Grande, which it gradually overtook. Privateers raided this coast more than once, Sir Francis Drake among them in 1585. Let's start with that old town, where the story of Cape Verde began.
Cidade Velha
Photo: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe begin a short way along the coast at Cidade Velha, Portuguese for old city. Founded by Portuguese traders in 1462, it is the oldest settlement in Cape Verde and its former capital, once called Ribeira Grande. Remarkably, it was the first European colonial settlement in the tropics. Parts of its carefully planned layout survive, including a royal fortress, two churches and a 16th-century town square. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a centre of Creole culture.
Forte Real de São Filipe
Photo: Xandu · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHigh on a plateau 120 metres above Cidade Velha stands the Royal Fort of São Filipe. It was built between 1587 and 1593, soon after Sir Francis Drake raided Santiago in 1585, to complete a defence system of smaller coastal forts and a wall along the port. Here is a surprising detail: the fort was built from stone brought all the way from Portugal. Its three bastions face inland, while steep cliffs guard it to the north and south, and the views from the walls are superb.
Plateau
Photo: Ji-Elle · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBack in Praia, we climb up to the Plateau, the historic heart of the city. It takes its name from the flat hilltop it stands on, overlooking the port. This high ground made the town easy to defend against pirates, and in 1770 it became the seat of the colonial government. In the 19th century the Plateau was rebuilt on a grid of streets lined with grand colonial buildings. Many public buildings are still here, including the Presidential Palace, the cathedral, the city hall and the Ethnographic Museum.
Praça Alexandre Albuquerque
Photo: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThis is Praça Alexandre Albuquerque, the main square of Praia. It was once called Praça do Pelourinho, and in 1876 it was renamed after the Portuguese colonial governor Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque. At its centre is a small park with bronze busts of Albuquerque and of Serpa Pinto. Look around you: the square is framed by historic townhouses and public buildings, many from the 19th century, including the city hall of 1858 and the Pro-Cathedral.
Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace
Photo: Ji-Elle · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the east side of the square rises the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace, built in neoclassical style between 1894 and 1902. It is the seat of the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde, a diocese created as early as 1533. Notice an unusual arrangement: the main façade and entrance face the square, but the bell tower stands at the back of the church, on another street entirely.
Monumento de Diogo Gomes
Photo: Balou46 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAt the southern tip of the Plateau stands the Monument to Diogo Gomes, the Portuguese navigator who was one of the discoverers of Santiago in 1460. The cast iron statue was made by the Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Correia in 1956. It rises 3.3 metres on a pedestal almost 2 metres high, close to the Presidential Palace, and gazes out over the beach of Gamboa, a fitting place to end our walk.
Lomakuume
