Cidade Velha (Santiago)
Cidade Velha (Santiago) – this town (which means “old city” in Portuguese) is located 15 km from Praia, and is the oldest settlement in Cape Verde. Cidade Velha acted as the previous capital of Cape Verde, and was best known for Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stopping here on his way to India in 1497, as well as Christopher Columbus during his third voyage to the Americas in 1498.
The Portuguese colonial sites still found here include Fort Real de São Filipe (built in 1590), Nossa Senhora do Rosário church (the oldest colonial church in the world – built in 1493), and the Pelourinho (a square that acted as a slave market over the centuries). The slave trade made Cidade Velha one of the wealthiest cities in the Portuguese Empire. UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and also became one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World.