Prainha, Praia

Prainha, Praia
Prainha, Praia
Location within Cape Verde
Location Western Boa Vista, Cape Verde
Coordinates 14°54′20″N 23°30′43″W / 14.9055°N 23.512°W / 14.9055; -23.512
Access road
Beach length 10 km

Prainha (sometimes as Prainha-Temerosa) is a tiny beach and a subdivision in the south of Praia in the island of Santiago, Cape Verde and is the southernmost neighborhood.

Farol de Ponta Temerosa (D. Maria Pia)

About Prainha-Temerosa

The area is narrow ranging from 50 to 250 meters wide, the widest is up to Ponta Temerosa measuring 850 meters, its length is about a kilometer. The highest point is about 30 meters, the lowest point is the Atlantic and the Bay of Porto Praia.

the Portuguese Embassy located on Avenida OUA
the Senegalese Embassy located on Rua Dr. Manuel Duarte

The neighborhood is named after a tiny beach which is 100 meters length and 10 meters wide. Surrounded by small rocky cliffs and recently hotels and villas.

Bordering neighborhoods includes Gamboa or Chã das Areias to the north, Ilhéu de Santa Maria to the east, Quebra Canela to the southwest and Achada de Santo António to the west.

Pestana Tropico Hotel

Many foreign embassies for the Capeverdean capital are located in Prainha. The embassies include the Brazilian, Luxembourgish, French, Portuguese, German, Russian, Senegalese, Cyrenaican (Libyan), Cuban and Chinese. Hotels and villas are located within Prainha and the small headland of Ponta Temerosa. Two hotel/villa chains are in the island including the Pestana Trópico (or the Trópico Hotel) and the Praiamar, or the Oasis Atlântico Praiamar.

The most notable landmark is Dona Maria Pia Lighthouse, commonly known today is the Ponta Temerosa lighthouse. It is located at Ponta Temerosa, divided into two parts, the western part makes up of the island's southernmost point. Also in that area is the Seminary of São José, another notable landmark.

The main streets are Rua Dr. Manuel Duarte and Avenida Jorge Barbosa running to the south, named after a famous writer, another avenue east of Dr. Manuel Duarte is Rotary International and another street named Rua do Mar (sometimes as Rua de Ponta Temerosa) which link to its lighthouse and the point, that street than as a track, the oldest in Prainha.

History

Before the urban sprawl reached the southernmost point of the island in the 1980s, the area was predominantly forested, they were cut down in the 16th century and agriculture dominated the land. The total area of the forest was mainly unknown. The first main feature was the D. Maria Pia lighthouse,[1] first built in 1881, a seminary later appeared.

Agriculture dominated the area up to the 1970s when the urban sprawl of Praia spread to the area, it was not fully urbanized until the 1990s. Embassies started to appear mainly in the 1980s and the 1990s, in the same time, Pestana Trópico and Praiamar resorts opened and another on the westernmost part.

Landmarks and points of interest

Panoramics

Panoramics includes parts of the east of Praia, in the western part, not too many features of the west can be seen except for the headland of Ponta Temerosa where the south of Praia, Monte Vermelho and Pico da Antónia can be seen. In the south, it is one of the starting points where the neighboring island of Fogo, the eastern part can be seen in southern Santiago.

Transportation

Two transit line passes in the westernmost portion, they include:[2]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prainha, Praia.
  1. ↑ Russ Rowlett (June 9, 2010). "Praia (Farol D. Maria Pia, Ponta Temerosa)". The Lighthouse Directory. UNC at Chapel Hill. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.asemana.publ.cv/spip.php/mes_squelettes/img/spip.php?article94283&ak=1 (Portuguese)

Coordinates: 14°54′20″N 23°30′43″W / 14.9055°N 23.512°W / 14.9055; -23.512

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.