Points of interest

Cidade Velha is located in the municipality of Ribeira Grande de Santiago, 15 kilometers west of Praia, on the coast of Cape Verde. It is the first city built by Europeans in the tropics and the first capital of the Cape Verde archipelago. It was originally called Ribeira Grande, having changed its name to avoid ambiguity with the homonymous village on the island of Santo Antão.

On June 10, 2009 it was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World. Due to its history, manifested by a valuable architectural heritage, on June 26 of the same year it was classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.