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Cathedral
Ribeira Grande [“Cidade Velha”], Santiago Island, Cape Verde
Religious Architecture
The Cathedral was imposingly situated in São Sebastião Quarter, on a platform overlooking the city about 30 metres above sea level. Construction began between 1556 and 1558 but was never finished. The work was interrupted numerous times due to the inhabitants’ dissatisfaction regarding the peripheral location or to pirate attacks. It consists of a single-naved church in the form of a two-square rectangle, with a double transept and chancel. Two belfry flanked the main entrance. As this was a typical Portuguese late Renaissance church, it bears some architectural affinity to programmes used for the cathedrals in Angra do Heroísmo (Azores) and Portalegre (Portugal). Successive restoration projects have been undertaken in the post-independence period: in 1989, archaeological work to recover elements for the restoration process; in 1991 and 1993 (when the photo shown here was obtained) National Civil Aviation Office and the Portuguese Institute for the Cultural Heritage carried out a second phase of archaeological investigation which uncovered a number of gravesites; and in 2003 and 2004 the Portuguese Institute for the Architectural Heritage worked to consolidate, rebuild and restore the masonry, stucco and plaster work as part of the Cidade Velha restoration project.
Fernando Pires