Várzea, Praia

Várzea
Neighborhood
The Government Building in Praia
Country	Cape Verde
Island	Santiago Island
City	Praia
Postal code	7600
Website	www.cmpraia.cv

Várzea is the westernmost part of the center of the capital city of Praia in the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. It is the fourth historic area.

Its total area is about 90 to 100 hectares. Buildings and Facilities are in the eastern part while the residential area are in the western part. Its elevations varies from about 5 meters to the east to 30 meters in the west.

Bordering neighbourhoods includes Fazenda in the north, Platô in the east, Gamboa or Chā das Areias in the south, Terra Branca, Bela Vista and Tira Chapéu in the west and Craveiro Lopes to the northeast.

Early in the 16th century, the low-lying areas were forested with kapok trees, they were cut down to make room for farming and agriculture, the forest stretched up to Ribeira Grande. Várzea is the Portuguese word for woodland, a part dominated by a kilometer long and 300 meters wide and covered about 30 hectares. Some portions of the forest were restored mainly with palm in the 18th century and the remainder restored with kapok trees and intermingled with buildings and landmarks built in the 1950s and the mid 20th century, a dense palm grove as they were in the mid-20th century no longer exist. Kapok trees reforested the area and later intermingled the area, until 1998 a part of it remained an open space until another buildings appear, the densest part is to the north.

Agriculture including cattle, tropical fruits and date palm dominate the area. Urbanization started in the 1950s and Estádio da Várzea started to appear. After Cape Verde became independent, the National Assembly Building was built. The [[National Library] of Cape Verde] opened its doors in 1999 and is a street north of the stadium, also a monument commemorating Amílcar Cabral was erected north of the library. The Economic Building was added just south of the outer football (soccer) field in 2013.

Praia's football (soccer) clubs between 2001 and 2006 temporarily played at Sucupira before it was repaired and renovated. The field is now a smaller size and a building built on top of a former field.