Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde)

About Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande

Ribeira Grande de Santiago is located in the southern end of the island of Santiago, 12 kilometres from Praia, in the archipelago of Cabo Verde. The town has a population of just under 1,300 inhabitants and a surface of approximately 200 hectares. It comprises the World Heritage site of Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande. The property was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2009 under criteria (ii), (iii) and (vi).  

 
All photos by Sébastien Moriset © CRA-terre / Ensag

The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Ribeira Grande became the first town founded in the archipelago, and was subsequently, in the 16th and 17th centuries, a key port of call for Portuguese colonisation and its administration. It was an exceptional centre in the routes for international maritime trade, included in the routes between Africa and the Cape, Brazil and the Caribbean, and as such provides an early image of transcontinental geopolitical visions. Its insular position, isolated but close to the coasts of Africa, made it an essential platform for the Atlantic trade of enslaved persons of modern times. A place of concentration of enslaved persons and the inhuman practices of the trade of enslaved persons, Ribeira Grande was also exceptional in terms of the intercultural encounters from which stemmed the first developed Creole society.

The valley of Ribeira Grande experimented with new forms of colonial agriculture on the boundary between the temperate and tropical climates. It became a platform for the acclimatisation and dissemination of plant species across the world. The town features some of the original street layout and impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th-century marble pillar.

Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde)

The Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde) aims to make the urban legislation of the city of Cidade Velha, inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2009, more accessible and understandable to the public. It constitutes an exemplary tool for awareness raising of local communities and decision makers, with the aim to improve the historical, architectural and urban landscapes of World Heritage sites.

This document was produced within the framework of an international assistance for the elaboration of an ‘Illustrated guidebook of the urban rules of Cidade Velha’.

Source: World Heritage Center news

To learn more

• Browse through the Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (in Portuguese). 
• Consult the 2019 – 2022 World Heritage site management plan (in Portuguese).
• Visit the website of the National Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituto do Património Cultural) and the Municipal Chamber of Ribeira Grande de Santiago.

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