What was then known as Ribeira Grande was founded in 1462, just two years after the Portuguese navigators arrived on the island of Santiago, the first of the islands in the Cape Verde archipelago to be discovered. As well as being the first city founded by Europeans south of the Sahara desert, and the first capital of Cape Verde, it was also the seat of the first diocese on the west coast of Africa, requested by João III of Portugal from Pope Clement VII in 1532. While the archipelago’s location was of great strategic value as a support point on the sea routes to America and southern Africa, allowing for the replenishment of water and fresh food, as well as naval repairs, the islands also served as a laboratory for experimenting and acclimatising various European and African agricultural and animal species that were introduced to the American continent, and others from the American continent that made their way to Africa and Europe.