Ribeira Brava is a city[2] on the island of São Nicolau, Cape Verde.

[1] The town is situated in the valley of the river Ribeira Brava, east of the main mountain range of the island.

The city has a colonial look with Portuguese style buildings, parks and gardens, small winding streets, and steep hills.

Ribeira Brava was founded in 1653, when the older settlement Porto de Lapa, 8 km (5.0 mi) to the east on the south coast, had been abandoned due to pirate attacks.

[3]: 28  The Seminário-Liceu, founded in Ribeira Brava in 1866 and abolished in 1917, was an important center of higher education in the archipelago.