The 19 Roças of Príncipe:
The 19 Roças of Príncipe: A Complete Guide to the Island's Plantation Heritage
The word roça—derived from Portuguese roçar o mato (to clear the bush)—describes precisely what happened across Príncipe for centuries: dense rainforest (Obô) was systematically cleared to create plantation monocultures that grew sugar, coffee, and ultimately cocoa. By 1913, these plantations made São Tomé and Príncipe the world's largest cocoa exporter, transforming a remote Atlantic island into a node of global commodity flows.
Today, within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (designated 2012), Príncipe's roças have acquired new meaning. They function as axes for sustainable tourism, sites of historical memory, and seedbeds for innovative development models. Understanding these 19 identified plantations—their locations, histories, and contemporary roles—provides essential context for exploring Príncipe's layered landscape where colonial exploitation, ecological wealth, and aspirational sustainability intersect.
Geographic Distribution: The Logic of Settlement
All 19 roças concentrate in Príncipe's northern half—precisely where terrain flattens somewhat and soils prove more fertile for cultivation. This wasn't accidental but deliberate colonial strategy maximizing agricultural productivity on an island dominated by challenging topography.
The south, by contrast—with its steep mountains reaching 948 meters (Pico do Príncipe, Pico Papagaio)—remained largely untouched by plantation agriculture. Too rugged for profitable cultivation, these southern highlands preserved primary rainforest that became Parque Natural do Obô in 2006, protecting the last intact native forest and serving as refuge for Critically Endangered endemic species.
This clear division between "utilization-north" and "protection-south" continues shaping land use and the Regional Autonomous Government of Príncipe's (RAP) tourism strategy. Visitors explore roça heritage in accessible northern areas while seeking endemic wildlife in protected southern wilderness—a spatial organization inherited directly from colonial-era land use patterns.
All 19 roças lie within Príncipe's single district, Pagué, reflecting the island's compact administrative structure.
The Complete Roster: 19 Roças of Varying Scale and Significance
The Major Heritage Sites
Roça Sundy – Príncipe's most internationally significant plantation, famous as the site where Arthur Eddington confirmed Einstein's General Theory of Relativity during the 1919 solar eclipse. Today operates as a luxury boutique hotel (15 suites) managed by HBD Príncipe, featuring the Espaço Ciência Sundy science museum and maintaining active cocoa production. The surrounding community of approximately 400 residents was recently relocated to Terra Prometida. Essential visit for science history enthusiasts and luxury travelers.
Roça Porto Real – The island's largest plantation, now Príncipe's most impressive ruin landscape. The former hospital has been spectacularly "swallowed" by rainforest, creating atmospheric scenes where massive trees grow through colonial architecture. Home to the Cooperativa de Valorização de Resíduos (Waste Valorization Cooperative), where ten women grind recycled glass bottles into jewelry—a showcase circular economy project. Plans exist for a Museum of Industrial Archaeology. Must-visit for ruin enthusiasts and industrial heritage tourists.
Roça Paciência – The green heart of sustainability on Príncipe. Under shade-forest conditions, this plantation produces award-winning Paciência Organic products: tree-to-bar chocolate, vanilla, forest pepper, natural soaps, and creams. Demonstrates how defunct plantations can transform into profitable ecological enterprises. Center for sustainable agroforestry, traditional crafts like basket weaving, and organic agriculture. Essential for sustainable food system enthusiasts.
Roça Belo Monte – Located in the northeast, this stylishly restored plantation operates as a boutique hotel, exemplifying successful marriage of colonial architecture preservation with modern ecotourism. Offers panoramic views and intimate scale compared to larger operations like Sundy.
Secondary Heritage Sites with Tourist Access
Roça Ponta do Sol – Príncipe's northernmost plantation, located near the capital Santo António, making it among the most accessible roças for visitors with limited time.
Roça Santo António – Also near the capital, offering convenient access for day trips from the main settlement.
Roça São João – Partially developed for tourism, this plantation provides visitor experiences while maintaining some agricultural function.
Roça Praia Inhame – Coastal location combining plantation heritage with beach access, appealing for visitors seeking both cultural sites and seaside relaxation.
Roça Terreiro Velho – Mixed economy combining agriculture and service industries, demonstrating how some plantations transition to diversified economic models.
Agricultural and Community-Focused Roças
Roça Nova Estrela – Partially inhabited, functioning as a residential community descended from plantation workers.
Roça Santa Rita – Small community maintaining agricultural traditions.
Roça Monte Alegre – Operates as small-scale agricultural enterprise.
Roça São José – Continues small-scale agricultural use.
Roça Bela Vista – Noted for scenic location, though less developed for tourism than major sites.
Lesser-Known and Minimally Documented Roças
Roça Abade – Small, rarely visited plantation with minimal tourist infrastructure.
Roça Azeitona – Now part of an old secondary forest area (229 hectares), demonstrating how abandoned plantations return to forest.
Roça Gaspar – Scarcely documented, minimal information available.
Roça Nova Cuba – Limited historical significance in available records.
Roça São Joaquim – Largely undeveloped for tourism, difficult access.
From 6,000 Hectares of Shade Forest to Contemporary Models
At their peak, Príncipe's plantations maintained over 6,000 hectares of shade forest (Floresta de Sombra)—the cultivation system where cocoa grows beneath protective canopy of taller trees. Large portions of this shade forest remain today, creating unique landscapes where agricultural heritage and ecological value overlap.
The shade forest system, while originally established for cocoa production efficiency (cocoa thrives under partial shade), inadvertently preserved biodiversity compared to clear-cut monocultures. Contemporary initiatives like Paciência Organic build on this legacy, demonstrating how agroforestry systems can produce valuable crops while maintaining forest structure that supports wildlife.
The Governments Vision: Living Heritage, Not Frozen Museums
The Regional Autonomous Government's strategy is explicit: roças should not remain museums but become living places—for education, sustainable tourism, agroforestry, and circular economy initiatives.
Current Transformation Projects
Rota das Roças – The plantation route concept connecting heritage sites through tourism infrastructure, creating economic value from historical preservation.
Glass Cooperative at Porto Real – Ten women transforming waste glass into jewelry, demonstrating circular economy principles while generating income for local women.
Paciência Organic – Award-winning sustainable enterprise producing tree-to-bar chocolate and specialty products under agroforestry conditions.
Heritage Hotels – Sundy and Belo Monte show how restored colonial architecture can provide luxury accommodation supporting conservation through tourism revenue.
Terra Prometida Resettlement – Controversial but substantial investment in modern housing for descendants of plantation workers, attempting to address historical injustices while facilitating heritage site development.
These initiatives aim to demonstrate that "from the darkest side of colonial history, something bright can emerge"—transforming exploitation landscapes into models of sustainable development.
Visiting Príncipe's Roças: Practical Guidance
Essential Visits for Every Itinerary
Roça Sundy (half-day minimum) – For science history, luxury accommodation, chocolate factory tours, and understanding plantation-to-hotel transformation
Roça Porto Real (2-3 hours) – For dramatic ruins, rainforest reclamation, glass cooperative visit, and industrial archaeology
Roça Paciência (half-day) – For sustainable agroforestry, organic chocolate production, traditional crafts, and ecological business models
Extended Exploration
Visitors with more time should consider:
- Roça Belo Monte – Overnight stay in boutique hotel setting
- Coastal roças (Praia Inhame, Ponta do Sol) – Combining heritage and beach
- Community roças (Nova Estrela, Santa Rita) – Understanding living plantation communities
- Ruin exploration (Azeitona, less-visited sites) – For adventurous heritage tourists
Combining with Natural Attractions
The roça system intersects with Príncipe's extraordinary natural heritage:
- Parque Natural do Obô – Southern protected area with endemic species
- Coastal trails – Connecting plantations with beaches
- Shade forest – Remaining agroforestry systems supporting biodiversity
- Rivers and waterfalls – Natural features accessible from plantation bases
Logistics
Transportation – Most roças require 4x4 vehicles; hire experienced drivers familiar with unpaved roads and plantation locations.
Guides – Local guides provide essential interpretation, historical context, and community connections that transform visits from sightseeing to meaningful cultural exchange.
Timing – Allow full days for comprehensive exploration; rushed visits miss nuance and depth that make plantation heritage compelling.
Respect – Many roças remain inhabited by descendant communities; approach with cultural sensitivity, seek permission before photographing people, and support local enterprises.
The Visible Memory of an Island
Príncipe's 19 roças represent more than ruins—they are the visible memory of an island that has chosen not to hide its past but to transform it toward sustainable, equitable futures.
Walking through Porto Real's jungle-consumed hospital, tasting Paciência's organic chocolate produced under shade forest, staying in Sundy's restored colonial buildings where Einstein's theory was confirmed, or purchasing recycled glass jewelry from the women's cooperative—these experiences connect visitors to layered histories where exploitation and innovation, suffering and beauty, colonial violence and contemporary hope coexist in complex landscapes.
The roças embody Príncipe's defining challenge and promise: confronting painful heritage honestly while demonstrating that historical landscapes of extraction can transform into models of sustainability, that tourism can benefit descendant communities, that circular economies can emerge from colonial ruins, and that an island can honor its full history—the dark and the bright—while building futures that break rather than repeat exploitative patterns.
For thoughtful visitors, Príncipe's 19 roças offer not just heritage tourism but invitation to witness—and through tourism support—an ongoing experiment in how small places with heavy histories can chart paths toward sustainable development that acknowledges the past while refusing to be imprisoned by it.
This is what makes Príncipe's plantation heritage globally significant: not the colonial architecture alone, not the Einstein connection alone, not the ecological innovations alone—but the combination, the attempt to weave together memory and aspiration, preservation and transformation, heritage and justice into landscapes where tourism becomes mechanism for equitable development rather than another chapter of extraction.
The 19 roças of Príncipe await exploration—bring curiosity, historical awareness, ecological appreciation, and willingness to engage complexity. These aren't simple sites with simple stories, and that complexity is precisely what makes them worth visiting.