Cacheu (city)

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Cacheu
Cacheu (Guinea-Bissau)
Cacheu
Cacheu
Coordinates 12 ° 16 ′  N , 16 ° 11 ′  W Coordinates: 12 ° 16 ′  N , 16 ° 11 ′  W
Basic data
Country Guinea-Bissau

province

Norte
region Cacheu
ISO 3166-2 GW-CA
surface 1,004.4 km²
Residents 18,563 (2009)
density 18.5  Ew. / km²

Cacheu is a city in northwestern Guinea-Bissau with 5674 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Cacheu region of the same name .

The city is the seat of the administrative sector of the same name with an area of ​​1004 km² and 18,563 inhabitants (as of 2007).

geography

Cacheu is located on the south bank of the Rio Cacheu about 20 kilometers from its confluence with the Atlantic . The city is about 100 km north of the capital Bissau .

history

The fortress of Cacheu

The place became the first Portuguese trading post in Guinea-Bissau in 1588 , benefiting from the natural deep harbor and the location that allowed efficient control of the wide estuary. From here gold, ivory and spices, but above all slaves, were shipped. The city long remained a center of the slave trade . For this purpose, the trading company Companhia de Cacheu was created in 1656 .

Cacheu was administered from Cape Verde until Guinea-Bissau became an independent Portuguese colony as Portuguese Guinea in 1879 .

In 1913 Cacheu was elevated to a small town ( Vila ).

Culture and sights

Parque Natural dos Tarrafes do Rio Cacheu

Information board about the nature park on the access road in front of Cacheu

Founded in 2000, natural park Parque Natural dos Tarrafes do Rio Cacheu (short Tarrafes de Cacheu ) covers 88,615 square kilometers, 68% of mangrove forests , which are considered the largest contiguous mangrove area of West Africa. 7,950 people live here (as of 2009), spread over 41 villages ( Tabancas ) and belonging to six different ethnic groups.

With its extensive mangroves and its 248 bird species, some of which are rare (2014 census), it is one of the world's most valuable areas for bird watching . In addition to a large number of seasonal migratory birds (especially mud birds ), there are also a. Pelicans , flamingos , Northern hornbills ( Bucorvus abissinicus ) and spur geese ( Plectropterus gambensis ) to see.

Here you will find the largest area of ​​natural mango trees in West Africa, at whose roots oysters prefer to settle in the water . Hippos ( Hippopotamus amphibius ) and the manatee species of the African manatee ( Trichechus senegalensis ) are among the largest animals found here. The rich fauna also includes crocodiles ( Crocodylus niloticus ), the African python ( Python sebae ) known here as irã cego , the Gambian sun squirrel ( Heliosciurus gambianus ), the bushbuck species called gazela pintada ( Tragelaphus scriptus ), mongooses ( Herpestes) paludinosus ) or the local black warthog , as well as dolphins and the Ethiopian green monkey , a canine monkey , are at home here.

The nature park is also rich in fish, especially perch and carp species, barracudas , corvinas ( Cilus gilberti , from the Umberfish family ) and the mullet ( Mugil cephalus ) are among the most common species here. These are shrimp species widespread.

Different guided routes are offered, which differ in price and duration. The shortest tour lasts two hours and leads from Cacheu to São Domingos , the longest leads through various villages ( Tabancas ), including the Tabanca Elia, which has unusual two-story huts, and the Tabanca Jobel, which stretches over several river arms and theirs Residents move around in small canoes. The tour can also be expanded to include a boat tour to Tabanca Poilão de Leão, where hippos can be found. Tours can be booked through the state conservation institute IBAP in Bissau , the Portuguese NGO Monte ACE or the private Guinea-Bissau agency Osseh'mene Tours & Souvenirs .

Project " Cacheu, caminho de escravos "

The Museum Memorial da Escravatura e do Tráfico Negreiro opened in 2016

With the help of the Portuguese NGO Acção para o Desenvolvimento and with EU grants, the Cacheu, caminho de escravos project ( Portuguese for: Cacheu, the way of the slaves) has been underway in Cacheu since 2014 . The program is worth 577,000 euros and is 90% funded by the EU. In addition to the memory of the slave trade, the project pursues a number of other goals, in particular cultural promotion, preservation of historical buildings and traditional traditions, peace promotion through intercultural dialogue and citizen awareness, and the promotion of the local economy through cultural activities.

The most important part of the project is the Museum Memorial da Escravatura e do Tráfico Negreiro , opened in July 2016 in the presence of the Guinea-Bissau culture minister Tomás Barbosa . The museum, set up in a restored old trading house not far from the historical loading port, shows the history of the slave trade, offers events in its own rooms and maintains facilities for scientific researchers.

The fourth Cacheu Cultural Festival took place on November 24th and 25th, 2017. Nationally known musicians and regional music and dance groups, a presenter from the Brazilian television station TV Globo and theater groups performed, and regional agricultural and handicraft products were exhibited. At the same time, a conference took place in the Slavery Museum on the importance of the slave trade for the development of Creole languages and for the spread of traditional African cloth production.

As part of the Cacheu, caminho de escravos project , training courses for young people and women are also being carried out, and a hotel near the museum is being renovated to offer visitors the opportunity to stay overnight.

Architectural monuments

The surprisingly small Portuguese fort, built in 1588, is well preserved. There are also larger-than-life bronze statues of Portuguese explorers from various places in Guinea-Bissau, which have been damaged over time or removed from their original monuments in the course of the decolonization zeal after independence in 1974, in particular: Diogo Gomes , Nuno Tristão , Teixeira Pinto and Honório Barreto , Governor Cacheus, born here in 1813.

The small pilgrimage church of Santuário Nossa Senhora da Natividade was the first church that the Portuguese built in West Africa. The simple church, built by the first Franciscan missionaries in 1660, is a destination for numerous Catholics in Guinea-Bissau every December. This pilgrimage is considered to be the most important expression of the Catholic religion in the country. The church remains closed for the rest of the time, but can be viewed at the neighboring police station on request.

A column can be seen in a small square at the harbor. The monument is attributed to the painter and sculptor Severo Portela and was erected in 1960 in memory of Heinrich the Navigator .

Economy and Transport

Cacheu is connected by a comparatively good asphalt road with the capital Bissau , which is about 100 km south .

A small ferry crosses the wide Rio Cacheu , on the south bank of which the city lies.

Town twinning

Sons and daughters

Web links

Commons : Cacheu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Inhabitants by region, sector and town by gender, 2009 census (p. 135, port.), PDF access from the INE National Statistics Office of December 30, 2017
  2. ↑ Annual Statistical Report Guinea-Bissau 2015 (p. 11), PDF access from the National Statistics Office INE of December 30, 2017
  3. ↑ a b Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau . Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 57.
  4. ↑ a b Website for the Parque Natural dos Tarrafes do Rio Cacheu ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the Instituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (port.), accessed on January 6, 2018 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ibapgbissau.org
  5. ↑ Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 20.
  6. ↑ a b c d Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 61.
  7. ^ Website of the NGO Monte ACE (port.), Accessed December 30, 2017
  8. ↑ a b Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 60.
  9. ↑ Memorial da escravatura e tráfico negreiro na Guiné-Bissau (Portuguese), article of July 8, 2016 on the opening of the museum, website of Radio France Internationale , accessed on January 5, 2018
  10. ^ Official website of the Memorial da Escravatura e do Tráfico Negreiro (under construction), accessed on January 5, 2018
  11. ↑ VI. Festival de Cacheu realizado - “Fourth Festival carried out by Cacheu” , article from December 1, 2017 on www.adbissau.org, accessed on January 5, 2018
  12. ↑ Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 58.
  13. ↑ a b Joana Petrolho, Marta Rosa: À Descoberta da Guiné-Bissau. Afectos com Letras / EU , Pombal 2015, ISBN 978-989-20-6252-5 , p. 59.
  14. ↑ Overview of the town twinning of Portuguese municipalities in Guinea-Bissau , website at the umbrella organization of the Portuguese district administrations ANMP, accessed on January 5, 2018