EnglishOld Seminary - High School and Chapel
Ribeira Brava/Stanxa, São Nicolau Island, Cape Verde
Religious Architecture
Situated on one of the slopes descending into the centre of Ribeira Brava, the former Seminary building is a two-storey mansion which must date to when it was founded in 1866 or soon after. Its appearance recalls a typical townhouse of Portuguese architecture from the Lisbon region, as built during the 19th century; it consists of a long body with nine bays on each floor under what was once a hip roof, as well as a small chapel. It is nowadays much deteriorated. In 2008 the town council paid homage to the institution it housed and its former headquarters, as being “the greatest monument in the island’s history”, due to its role in the education of intellectual elites and culture on São Nicolau, thereby playing a key role in formation of the national conscience.