Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde)
The Guidebook aims to make the urban legislation of the World Heritage city of Cidade Velha more accessible and understandable to the public. It is an exemplary tool for awareness raising of local communities and decision makers, with the aim to improve the historical, architectural and urban landscapes of the World Heritage site.
About Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande de Santiago is located in the southern end of the island of Santiago, 12 kilometres from Praia, in the archipelago of Cabo Verde. The town has a population of just under 1,300 inhabitants and a surface of approximately 200 hectares. It comprises the World Heritage site of Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande. The property was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2009 under criteria (ii), (iii) and (vi).
All photos by Sébastien Moriset © CRA-terre / Ensag
The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Ribeira Grande became the first town founded in the archipelago, and was subsequently, in the 16th and 17th centuries, a key port of call for Portuguese colonisation and its administration. It was an exceptional centre in the routes for international maritime trade, included in the routes between Africa and the Cape, Brazil and the Caribbean, and as such provides an early image of transcontinental geopolitical visions. Its insular position, isolated but close to the coasts of Africa, made it an essential platform for the Atlantic trade of enslaved persons of modern times. A place of concentration of enslaved persons and the inhuman practices of the trade of enslaved persons, Ribeira Grande was also exceptional in terms of the intercultural encounters from which stemmed the first developed Creole society.
The valley of Ribeira Grande experimented with new forms of colonial agriculture on the boundary between the temperate and tropical climates. It became a platform for the acclimatisation and dissemination of plant species across the world. The town features some of the original street layout and impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th-century marble pillar.
Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde)
The Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (Cabo Verde) aims to make the urban legislation of the city of Cidade Velha, inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2009, more accessible and understandable to the public. It constitutes an exemplary tool for awareness raising of local communities and decision makers, with the aim to improve the historical, architectural and urban landscapes of World Heritage sites.
This document was produced within the framework of an international assistance for the elaboration of an ‘Illustrated guidebook of the urban rules of Cidade Velha’.
Source: World Heritage Center news
Contribution towards the implementation of the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape
The project aims to contribute to the implementation of the Historic Urban Landscape approach by studying and analysing the character and identity of the historic city and providing guidelines and good practice examples for interventions in the historic city.
Historic Urban Landscape Tools
Contribution towards Sustainable Development
The initiative aims to contribute towards Sustainable Development and, if fully implemented in accordance with the described plans, could contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
- Target 11.4: the initiative aims to strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.
Note: the described potential impacts of the projects are only indicative and based on submitted and available information. The World Heritage Centre does not carry out an independent verification of the projects and their impacts.
To learn more
- Browse through the Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha (in Portuguese).
- Consult the 2019 – 2022 World Heritage site management plan (in Portuguese).
- Visit the website of the National Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituto do Património Cultural) and the Municipal Chamber of Ribeira Grande de Santiago.
Copyright: © CRA-terre / Ensag. Permanent URL: whc.unesco.org/en/documents/114759
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