Santiago is the largest island, home to more than half of all Cape Verdeans, and the historical root of the nation. Everything began here in 1462, when settlers founded Ribeira Grande, the first permanent European town in the tropics, known today as Cidade Velha.
Cidade Velha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, keeps the memory of the Atlantic's hardest history. Its Rua Banana of stone cottages, its ruined cathedral and the clifftop Forte Real de São Filipe witnessed the birth of a new Creole society, forged by people brought from the African mainland against their will. Walking its quiet streets is a lesson no book can match.
Praia, on its fortified plateau above twin bays, is the country's political and economic engine: ministries, markets, universities and the memorial to independence leader Amílcar Cabral. The Plateau district's colonial grid now hums with a young, fast-growing city around it.
Beyond the capital, Santiago is surprisingly wild. The Serra Malagueta range offers misty ridge walks, Assomada's market is the biggest and loudest in the islands, and Tarrafal's palm-backed bay in the far north closes the island with its most beautiful beach.
Known for
- Cidade Velha UNESCO site
- Capital city Praia
- Serra Malagueta
- Assomada market
Good to know
Praia's Plateau district is a candidate for future heritage listing.
The Tarrafal camp museum documents the colonial-era prison that held political dissidents.
Santiago grows much of the nation's food in its green interior valleys.