Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge have just uncovered the earliest known European Christian church in the tropics on an island that helped give rise to the African slave trade.
The Portuguese colonized a series of ten small, barren islands in 1456, where they established a stronghold for the sake of commerce with nearby parts of Africa. The islands—which they named Cabo Verde—soon evolved to become a hub of global African slave trade, serving as an important trans-shipment “sorting” center.
It was on these islands that they built the now-unearthed church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição in around 1470. This church is the oldest formal European colonial building that has ever been discovered in sub-Saharan Africa, found amongst the ruins of the island nation’s former capital, Cidade Velha.
At its height, Cidade Velha was the second richest city in the entire Portuguese empire, fed from the blood of countless slaves.
“It’s a profound social and political story to which these new archaeological investigations are making an invaluable contribution,” said Cambridge’s Professor Marie Louise Stig Sørensen in a statement.
The archaeologists have just completed the excavation and conservation of this building for public display, and have made many important discoveries.
But wait, there’s more!
“We’ve managed to recover the entire footprint-plan of the church, including its vestry, side-chapel and porch, and it now presents a really striking monument,” said Christopher Evans, Director of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit.
“Evidently constructed around 1500, the most complicated portion is the east-end’s chancel where the main altar stood, and which has seen much rebuilding due to seasonal flash-flood damage. Though the chancel’s sequence proved complicated to disentangle, under it all we exposed a gothic-style chapel.
“This had been built as a free-standing structure prior to the church itself and is now the earliest known building on the islands – the whole exercise has been a tremendous success.”
Further, over 1,000 skeletal remains have also been found in a cemetery dug into the floor of the church—roughly half of whom were African—along with several tombstones of local dignitaries.
“This is a place of immense cultural and heritage value. This excavation has revealed the tombs and graves of people that we only know from history books and always felt could be fiction,” Cidade Velha’s Mayor, Dr. Manuel Monteiro de Pina, said.
Major implications for residents on the island
But all these findings also have major implications for those who live on the Cabo Verde islands today.
“Cabo Verde is a young nation in many ways, and it needs its history to be unearthed and accessed so it can continue to build its national identity,” said Sørensen.
“I can see the importance the site has for Cabo Verde to understand our history and our identity,” added President Jorge Carlos Fonseca.
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Feature Image: Cambridge Archaeological Unit
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