title: Batepá
text: # Batepá
  
  Batepá is a village on São Tomé Island in São Tomé and Príncipe. Its population is 775 (2012 census). It lies 2 km west of Trindade and 2 km east of Monte Café. It was the starting point of the Batepá massacre, a brutally crushed rebellion in February 1953, in which hundreds of local inhabitants were killed. It marked the rise of the independence movement in Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, and is commemorated annually as a national holiday (Dia de Mártires da Liberdade) on February 3.
  
  