Tour Old City/Discover Old Town

The Fortress of S. Filipe, one of the great historical monuments of the city of Ribeira Grande is the testimony of the Portuguese presence in these islands. It was built after Drake's attack. in 1585. The city was garrisoned from this fort, whose construction would have started in 1593. Another historical monument that the visitor can observe in the city of Ribeira Grande is the pillory erected a few centuries ago in the square of the city. Here the slaves were beaten. It is the most vivid memory of the Slavonic era in Cape Verde.
According to some historians, Ribeira Grande never had the development corresponding to the category of City. However, for convenience, King D. João III decided to propose the creation of the Diocese of Cape Verde. The aim was to facilitate the ordination of native priests as well as to better coordinate the task of evangelizing the African coast, from which many free men came to Christianize.

Its Se Cathedral, the first that the Portuguese erected on the black continent, is today in ruins. However, the little that remains is being preserved in order to prevent important references from disappearing from Cape Verde, and in particular from Santiago, the mother island of ancient Cape Verdean culture due to its geo-strategic position, midway between the African continent, Europe, the Americas and the East, early the Cape Verdean archipelago was called upon to play a pivotal role in the framework of trade in slave trade and the supply of ships in fresh and water. These factors contributed to make Ribeira Grande quickly become a commercial center of some projection and hence, in 1533, it was erected in Cidade.

The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, now a historical heritage site, was built around 1495. It is one of the oldest temples on the island of Santiago and Cape Verde. In this Church he preached Father António Vieira in 1652, passing to Brazil from Portugal. What surprised the great Portuguese speaker at the time was the fact that he found clergymen and canons gifted with wisdom, who he said envied the best in the Kingdom.

Pelourinho is an important monument in the city of Cidade Velha, in the south of Santiago, Cape Verde. The historic center of the Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since June 2009. It is a Manueline-style white marble column set in the city's main square. It was a symbol of municipal power and slavery was where rebel slaves were publicly punished in the Pillory.
Built in 1512 or 1520, it is one of the oldest monuments in Cape Verde. It was restored in the late 1960s.

We will visit the convent of São Constructed around 1640, on a plot of land donated by Joana Coelho, a wealthy landowner, widow of Captain Fabião de Andrade. It was conceived to welcome the Franciscan religious who replaced the Jesuits in the mission in Cape Verde. It also functioned as a training center, where priests taught various crafts to the community. It was practically destroyed after an attack by the privateer Jacques Cassard in 1712 and a storm in 1754.