Praça Alexandre Albuquerque

Praça Alexandre Albuquerque is the main square of Praia and the social heart of the Platô. The plaza is flanked on the east by the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace, on the north by the Municipal Palace, and on other sides by government offices and cafes. In the evenings, families and young people fill the benches and spill out of the surrounding bars.

The square was recently renovated and the paving improved. The Pro-Cathedral on the eastern edge is worth a look inside — it is a calm, whitewashed Portuguese colonial church with a simple dignity that suits the square's character.

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A story
The square is named for Alexandre de Albuquerque, a 19th-century governor who oversaw major improvements to the city's infrastructure. The statue in the centre, erected in 1904, shows him in full colonial dress. Since independence in 1975, successive governments have debated renaming the square after a Cape Verdean national figure, but the colonial name has stuck — a small indicator of the complex relationship between Cape Verde and its Portuguese past.

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