Praia

Praia is the capital of Cabo Verde, on the southern coast of the island of Santiago in the Atlantic Ocean. Its name is Portuguese for beach, and its old town stands on a flat basalt plateau known as the Platô.

Portuguese navigators reached the uninhabited islands in the 15th century, and their first town, Ribeira Grande, now called Cidade Velha, was built a short way along the coast to the west. Its harbor was hard to defend, and trade moved to the wider bay of Praia, which became the capital in 1770. Praia grew slowly as a port for ships crossing the Atlantic, and it became the capital of independent Cabo Verde in 1975. Cidade Velha, the earliest European colonial town in the tropics, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The port of Praia handles most of the goods brought to the island of Santiago. Strela beer is brewed in the city, and grogue, a spirit made from sugarcane pressed in old wooden mills, comes from the valleys of the island. Cachupa, a slow-cooked stew of corn, beans and fish or meat, is the national dish.

The Platô keeps colonial streets around the Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça and the Alexandre Albuquerque square. Batuque, a music of women who drum on cloth rolls held between their knees and sing in turn, comes from the island of Santiago. Quebra Canela, a sandy beach below the plateau, is the bathing beach of the city.