ROÇAS - COCOA PLANTATION AND TRANSFORMATION

ROÇAS - ALIVE MUSEUM

I can´t speak about cocoa and forget the roças.

You will ask yourself what roças means?

So, in this chapter I will share same pictures and information about the roças. 

When I came back to São Tomé 1 year ago, I visited some roça, and the first sensation that I felt was I am living in sec. XIX, it was like I am living in that time, because the building was with the same architecture as before.

I went to several museums in Europa, but the sensation isn´t the same. It was very different; the words could not explain that just living in.

Anyway, I am going to focus about the roças.

Roças was the colonial plantation house. Normally, was divided in administration; technology part, plantation of cocoa or cafe and the worker house, sanzala.

In São Tomé there are 150 roças around all rhe island.  

The roças was like a small company with their budget and production.

The main House:

Roça Água Izé

Uba-Budo

 Nova Moka

Boa Entrada

Picures of worker house:

Tecnology transformation part: