Praça Alexandre Albuquerque

Praça Alexandre Albuquerque
Praça Alexandre Albuquerque facing southwest
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassicism
Town or city	Praia
Country	Cape Verde
Elevation	30

Praça Alexandre Albuquerque (Portuguese for Albuquerque Square), also known as Praça 12 de Setembro is the main square of the capital city of Praia and Cape Verde located in the southcenter of the Platô (or Plateau). The square is named after the Portuguese colonial governor Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque who ran from 1869 until 1876, he was also passionate about card playing; therefore, each of the four corners of the square is marked by a suit. One of some features still named after a Portuguese governor that is still named after independence in 1975. It is 97 meters long and 74 meters wide and has a space of 7,178 square meters (0.71 ha). The square was first built in 1826 together with its adjacent buildings in the north, some were rebuilt, it is not known what occupied the area before the square was built

The square is surrounded by Rua Patrice Lumumba, Rua Serpa Pinto and Avenida Amílcar Cabral, the square intersects with Rua 5 de Julho in the north and Rua Júlio Abreu to the east.

The square has two walkways one with the northern terminus at Rua 5 de Julho which is pedestrianized since 2009. 6 small circles surround the area. Two monuments are in the square, one that is a first erected in 1926 and a in the north. In the middle is a circular walkway featuring a fountain it has a circular brown cobblestone pavement surrounding it with a stone-concrete surrounding and two grey edges, the other in the middle. Cactuses surround the monuments of Alexandre Albuquerque and Serpa Pinto.

The square features a grassy area with 54 trees mainly kapok and some mango, bushes surrounding the walkway featuring some endangered plants, in the west is a feature named Esplanada Morabeza, a red kiosk is in the northwest, in the southeast is a restroom. The kiosk was first built in 1924 by the city president Abílio Monteiro de Maceiro, along with Joaquím Marques Freire, António Coleho Pereira, Serra, José de Sousa Santos Junior and João da Cosa Ferreira. It has largely with a color related to blue including lavender-blue and light blue-white sides, railing and six columns with a red colored roof with a white interior.

Two traffic lights are in the west side of the square and maybe the first installed in Cape Verde. Street posts are on four sides of the square. Also nearby is a lightning rod.

Numerous buildings surround the square including the National Justice Building and the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace in the east, to the south. Banks include Banco Comercial do Atlântico in the south and BAI and Banco Interatlântico in the west side, the latter is a building with modern architecture, next to it is Palácio da Cultura Ildo Lobo. Two supermarkets, one named Calu e Angela in the west and in the northwest is Mundilar . A pharmacy named Moderna is next to the BAI bank. Also Café Cachito is located which is the city's oldest bar. Its buildings feature colonial neoclassical architecture, some buildings were demolished and features modern architecture.