Curral Velho on Boa Vista: Village History and Coastal Landscape

Curral Velho on Boa Vista is an abandoned former fishing village. Curral Velho Beach is near the settlement ruins. The wider surrounding area includes the Curral Velho Ramsar Site, which covers a larger coastal landscape.

History of a Settlement

Curral Velho is considered the oldest settlement on Boa Vista and dates back to the 17th century. The village was abandoned sometime around the 19th century; today, only ruins remain. This place brings together a long history of settlement and the visible remains of an abandoned fishing village.

Fishing was not the settlement’s only activity. Salt was also traded: it was sent to other Cape Verdean islands and to the mainland. The trade thus extended beyond Boa Vista and adds another economic dimension to the story of the former fishing settlement. Both its connection to the sea and its exchange with other places are significant to Curral Velho’s history.

Lagoons and Coastal Area

The Curral Velho Ramsar Site on the island of Boa Vista includes a permanent coastal lagoon at the mouth of the Ribeira de Brito Cruzinha, as well as temporary coastal lagoons. It also includes the surrounding dune ecosystems, the beach and the islet of Curral Velho. The permanent and temporary lagoons represent different forms of coastal landscape; the dunes, beach and islet are also part of this larger area.

To understand the area, it helps to distinguish the village from the site: the ruins belong to the former fishing village, while the lagoons and dunes define the description of the Ramsar Site in the wider surrounding area. The beach’s nearby location offers a tangible link between the settlement remains and the coast, without treating them as one and the same.

Boa Vista: More Landscape and Cultural Themes

On Boa Vista, the Viana Desert offers a different landscape focus. It is about one kilometre wide and around five kilometres long; its light-colored sand is mixed with grains of black soil. You can walk freely and easily in the Viana Desert. In the Morro de Areia Nature Reserve, sand dunes reach the ocean. Thus, the island features several distinct landscape themes: the lagoon and dune landscape in the wider area around Curral Velho, a desert with a mix of sand and soil, and dunes reaching the sea.

Boa Vista’s cultural themes are also rooted in different places. The Boa Vista pottery school in Rabil was established in 1960 and preserves traditional clay-shaping techniques developed by local artisans. In Sal Rei on Boa Vista, the permanent exhibition at the Museu dos Naufragos includes relics from historic shipwrecks off the island’s coast. It also features objects related to the era of pirate attacks and the slave trade to the Americas. Rabil represents the tradition of clay shaping, while Sal Rei is home to a collection focused on maritime history.

Curral Velho in the Context of the Island

When weighing up destinations on Boa Vista by theme, Curral Velho stands out for its historical and coastal focus: the abandoned fishing village, its ruins and the landscape of the Ramsar Site in the wider surrounding area. The Viana Desert, Morro de Areia, the pottery school in Rabil and the Museu dos Naufragos in Sal Rei add their own landscape and cultural themes to the island context. This comparison helps place Curral Velho as a destination with a clear connection to settlement history and the coastal area.

Discover more destinations: Espingueira, Rabil.

For the broader travel overview: Boa Vista.