Roça Água-Izé

São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe

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Roça Água-Izé, one of São Tomé Island's oldest and largest former cocoa plantations spanning about 2,600 hectares near the eastern coast south of São Tomé City in São Tomé and Príncipe, was established in 1858 by João Maria de Sousa e Almeida, the first mulatto nobleman in Portuguese colonies, pioneering commercial cocoa production with up to 2,500 Angolan contract workers, 50km of internal railways, and self-sufficient facilities including a state-of-the-art 1928 hospital once considered West Africa's best.

The sprawling complex features colonial-era buildings like the manor house, worker barracks, processing factories, and the iconic hilltop hospital with its grand staircase offering sea views, now largely abandoned and overgrown since nationalization after 1975 independence led to decline amid cocoa pests and exodus of skilled managers. 

Today, it functions as an atmospheric open-air ruin and living village for descendants of serviçais, drawing tourists for its photogenic decay, historical insights into plantation slavery and labor, and occasional cocoa tastings along the main EN-2 road.