Roça Sundy

Roça Sundy in Príncipe's northwest carries two histories at once. It was a cocoa estate worked by contract labourers from across Portuguese Africa, with the manor house, hospital and quarters that went with that. And in May 1919 Arthur Eddington set up on its grounds to photograph a total eclipse, and the star positions he measured confirmed Einstein's prediction that gravity bends light. UNESCO inscribed the estate in 2026.

What you'll find

• The Eddington observation - the 1919 eclipse measurement that confirmed general relativity.
• The manor house - the estate building, now partly restored as a hotel.
• The workers' quarters - the sanzalas the contract labourers were housed in.
• The 2026 inscription - one of six roças in the UNESCO property.

When to go

June to September is the drier gravana season. The hotel operates year round. Rain falls in most months on Príncipe.

Good to know

Part of the estate is a hotel and access to those areas depends on staying or booking. The workers' quarters are still lived in and permission matters. A marker commemorates the eclipse but there is little else interpreting it.

Nearby

Santo António is southeast, and Belo Monte is south.

Key facts