|
Praia - History |
Chronology of the History of Praia.
1515 Sena Barcelos found the first reference to the Port of Praia de Santa Maria in 1515, with the arrival of the caravelle Santa Catarina, which unloaded 132 slaves taken captive along that part of the coast of Africa known as the "Rivers of Guinea."
That year the first population settlement was established at the Port of Praia with people from the villages of Ribeira Grande, and mainly Alcatrazes. The abandonment of Alcatrazes had begun at that time; its merchants moved to Praia "because of the ample port." The importance of the new population center increased such that "already by 1536 a regular church was being built, and it was the seat for several authorities."
1528 "The village of Praia de Santa Maria began to develop. Its captain and governor of justice was Gomes Balieiro, and the legislative chamber was functioning."
1544 With a view to the capture of two ships in the port of Praia by French pirates, the captain of Ribeira Grande, Antonio Correia de Sousa, said that the port was "a passageway for all the ships that come to these islands, and so for the ones from Sao Tome and for Brazil."
1582, January 24 In a letter to Filipe I, Diego Florez de Valdez said: "I am of the view that Your Majesty should move the slave trade from the port of Santiago (Ribeira Grande) to Praia, since it is a much better port; it is large, and sheltered from all inclemency, and it is a place where if the enemy were to take it, he would be lord of the island; and it is easy to build fortifications just up the coast, and it is the safest place." 1712 Twelve warships, commanded by Jacques Cassart, anchor at the port of Praia Negra (or, according to another version, at the port of Ribeirao das Eguas). They disembarked without facing resistance from the local population, and militia commander Manuel Dias de Moura, who surrendered and remained a prisoner, at the main church. In the village the pirates burned the thatch houses; only those with tile roofs were left standing, and they looted the inhabitants' belongings.
1826 Governor-General Antonio Pusich submitted a report to the central authorities in which he proposed a transfer of the "capital" from Praia to Sao Nicolau or Sao Antao. The argument: that the village was disease-infested.
1826, March 13 The two legislative chambers of the island, meeting in the village of Praia, in the presence of the governor, the bishop, public officials, and many common people, celebrated assumption by D. Joao VI of the title Emperor of Brazil, "and in view of this great event they asked that the village be increased in rank to a city, capital of the islands, and lordship of Guinea, being dubbed forever the Imperial City of Bragan'a."
The following year, the regent Dona Isabel Maria asked the governor of Cape Verde for precise information to determine whether the village met the conditions for being elevated in standing to a city. The request was denied, "based on the consideration that it would offend the inhabitants of Ribeira Grande, who possessed that regalia for a long time, in recognition of their nobility, education, and civil and ecclesiastic dignity."
1834 Prefect Manuel Antonio Martins proposed to the governor that the capital be changed to the island of Boa Vista; this proposal was not approved.
1835 The issue of whether to transfer the "capital" from the village of Praia came to the fore once again, this time to Sao Vicente, because of Praia's insalubrious conditions. The tertiary sector of Praia objected to this proposal, arguing that the insalubrious conditions could be done away with by local improvements that should be carried out in view of the large number of ships that sought to put in at the port, and since Santiago is the more important island in terms of agriculture, and the richest and the most populous.
1836 Governor Domingos Correia Arouca organized a company, with a capital investment of 4 million reis, to build a dock in the port of Praia. He sought laborers to work on this construction project, and on the project to link the island of Santa Marta to land. He organized an underwriting to build a clock tower, "for in the village they spent hours banging the bell with a hammer."
1838 A decree was issued ordering that the main authorities, including in the village of Praia, should maintain their permanent residences on the island of Sao Vicente, in the new town that was being built and that was to be called Mindelo.
1841 The cornerstone was laid for the new hospital on May 30, 1841, at the site called ChMo de Denga, the second project by engineer Antonio Maria Fontes.
1849 In the opinion of governor Joao Pereira de Melo, it was essential to move the government seat, from July to February, out of Praia to a healthier place. Otherwise, "the offices shut down completely, and the employees groan, as they fall ill, with no benefit to the public service; many of them, once they escape, continue to convalesce until the rains come again."
Also in 1849, two private persons submitted proposals in which they undertook to erect the buildings needed for housing the government, one in the interior of Santiago, the other on Sao Vicente. The latter, businessman Joao Antonio Martins, required that the government, in consideration of his initiative, not consent to having slaves on that island. None of the proposals was accepted.
1858 By decree of April 29, the village of Praia was elevated to the category of city, with the name "City of Praia de Santiago."
1863 Construction of the dock, which had begun on March 3, 1859, and in which 1,200 large quarry stones bought in Lisbon were used, was completed. COPYRIGHT 2000 -
Diego de Valdez also notes that the port of Praia had some artillery, but very smallscale.
