Cape Verde - São Filipe Historic Center

The island of Fogo or the island of São Filipe as it was known during its discovery in 1460 by the Portuguese, was the second island to be populated in Cabo Verde, between 1470 and 1490. Its occupation was initiated by wealthy owners of Ribeira Grande (Cidade Velha) and his slaves, following the letter of limitation of privileges of 1472 that required the inhabitants of the island of Santiago to market only products of this island on the African coast. Despite this limitation, residents of the island of Santiago took advantage of this circumstance to expand their cotton production on the island of Fogo and then sell it on the coast opposite, even knowing that they were committing the law. Thus São Filipe became the first urban center of the island, emerging in the space where the chapel of São Filipe was built, in the place that is now called "cemitério de baixo". While the slave trade at Ribeira Grande (Cidade Velha) was profitable, Sao Filipe played a crucial role as the main exchange product for slaves on the African coast was cotton or panu di terra, the traditional fabric of the country. Cabo Verde). This fabric, produced on the island of Fogo, was very popular in the slave trade to the point where the Portuguese crown banned in 1687, under penalty of death, its sale to the rival maritime powers (France, Holland and England)