Cape Verdean Island Immortalized by Cesária Évora's Song

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora performs on stage during a concert at the Grand Rex in Paris on November 10, 2009.

Africa News with Euronews

The village of Praia Branca, on the Cape Verdean island of São Nicolau, is now also known as "Terra d'Sodade".

This is where the house Casa da Morna was born, named after the song immortalised by Cesária Évora.

The building chosen was the former home of Armando Zeferino Soares, who composed the morna "Sodade", in the 50s of the last century.

"We want the town of Praia Branca, through the morna "Sodade" to be an attraction for the island of São Nicolau. Because if today Cape Verde is known When we have any doubts about where Cape Verde is, we only have to sing the morna 'Sodade' and people remember where Cape Verde is," said José Freitas de Brito, Mayor of Tarrafal de São Nicolau.

Morna is the typical Cape Verdean music and dance genre, usually accompanied by viola, cavaquinho, violin, piano and guitar.

The lyrics particularly express the romanticism, the way of life of its people and a deep love for their land...

A love generalised to all ten islands of the archipelago and which led to morna being classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2019

The Casa da Morna - Sodade was the second most visited museum in Cape Verde in 2021, it has another interpretative centre for morna on the island of Brava, the Casa-Museu Eugénio Tavares, and is preparing to open a house of morna on the island of Boa Vista, regarded as the birthplace of this musical genre.