Salvador da Bahia

No state in Brazil ignites the imagination of visitors as does Bahia. Bahia is a tropical paradise, with magic, music, dance, history, excellent cusine and many festivals including the best Carnival of Brazil. It is the land of candomblé and capoeira, and the birthplace of Axe-music and of trio-eletricos.

Many of the most famous Brazilian musicians including Dorival Caymi, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Maria Bethania and many more were born in Bahia. It is also the land of Jorge Amado, the most colorful of Brazilian writers who was the author of Gabriela – Cinnamon and Spice, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Tieta and many other books.

The European and African histories of Brazil began in Bahia, which continues to honor both of these heritages that have mingled with the indigenous Native American cultures. The state capital, Salvador, was Brazil's first capital city and the center of colonial life from the 16th through the 18th centuries.

Bahia has a beautful coast with many magnificent beaches, some adjacent to colonial forts and other historic buildings. If beaches are what you want, you have so many to chose from that the choice will be difficult.

Our guest house Pousada Manga Rosa and our apartments building Manga Rosa Suites are located right in the birthplace of Brazil, in front of the Porto da Barra Beach, one of the best beaches in Salvador. Can you think of a better place to stay to know the Brazilian culture and history?

To get there, contact joseph@santours.com; in California call 510-652-8600, or toll-free from anywhere in the USA 1-800-769-9669.

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Historic City Center

Salvador’s Historic Center comprises the colonial city’s primitive nucleus and its geographical expansion until the end of the 18th century. From Praça Municipal - open within the dense tropical forest by the first general-governor, Tomé de Souza, in 1549 - to largo de Santo Antônio Além do Carmo, battle field where Brazilian and Dutch soldiers from Companhia das Índias Ocidentais fought in 1638, monuments of civil, religious and military architecture make up a scenery that reveals Salvador’s inhabitants art and way of living through the centuries. From Portas de Santa Luzia, which kept the southern boundary of the old city safe, with mud walls, to the thick walls of Fort Santo Antônio Além do Carmo, which guarded the north entrance, Salvador’s Historic Center is divided in three areas that can be visited all at once: from Praça Municipal to largo de São Francisco, Pelourinho, and from largo do Carmo to largo de Santo Antônio Além do Carmo. Many ruined buildings from the Historic Center started to be recuperated in the last thirty years; however, from 1991 on, this work had great impulse with the revitalization of whole blocks of old houses, convents, and churches. That is why nowadays there are more than 800 buildings with restored frontispieces and interior, among which are the ones adapted to new functions due to the aim of revitalizing the area for cultural purposes.

The area between Praça Municipal and largo de São Francisco chronologically starts from the place chosen by general-governor Tomé de Souza for the construction of the Colonial Government buildings, and in the places occupied by religious brotherhoods that came from Europe in 1549. Praça Municipal was opened because it offered better protection against attacks by natives and corsairs.

The Governor’s House, the City Hall, and other constructions were initially made of mud wall and covered with straw, but later re-built with stone, bricks, and lime. Nowadays, the visitors’ prefered historic buildings are Paço Municipal (completed in the end of the 17th century), Palácio Rio Branco (built where the Governor’s House was in 1919), and the Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda Elevator), amplified in the thirties. Towards the north are Santa Casa and Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia (Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia Church).

Igreja da Sé’s old foundations, put down in 1933, and Palácio Arquiepiscopal, Brazil’s Prime Archbishop’s old house and place of work. It is important to point out that the old Sé, and other lour blocks from the colonial and imperial periods were put down in the beginning of the century for the construction of the city’s cable car stations. A little bit forward, in Terreiro de Jesus, one will find 17th to 19th century constructions. Catedral Basilica - former Igreja dos Jesuítas (Jesuits Church) - and churches Ordem Terceira de São Domingos and São Pedro dos Clérigos stand out in Terreiro de Jesus, with its beautiful water fountain in the center. In the old Medical School Building, originally occupied by the Jesuit School, are museums Memorial da Medicina (Medicine Memorial), Arqueologia e Etnologia (Archeology and Ethnology), and Afro-Brasileiro (Afro-Brazilian). largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco (Cruzeiro de São Francisco Largo), practically an extension of Terreiro de Jesus, has a beautiful cross in the center, and, on the back, the monumental religious set made up of São Franscisco Church and Convent, and Ordem Terceira de São Franscisco Church.

Portas de Santa Luzia - the main access to the city founded by Tomé de Souza in 1549 was located in the area where now Praça Castro Alves is. A sign placed on Palácio dos Esportes’ sidewall showed its position on the wall that surrounded Salvador’s first boundary.

Paço Municipal - located on the back of the city’s oldest square, and considered one of Salvador’s most important visual reference points, it had its first construction in mud wall covered with straw. In the second half of the 17th century, though, the two existing buildings were put down and the current one was finally completed - which keeps its original renascence aspect, after a neo-classical coating placed during a repair in the last century was removed, in 1970. With an arched frontispiece and Tuscan pillars overlapped by pulpit windows, the building has two sectors brought together by a central tower covered by a dome. Inside, a small patio reminds us of the ancient Roman tradition brought by the Portuguese. The palace holds Brazil’s oldest City Hall.

Rio Branco Palace - Built in the beginning of the 20th century, it has in eclectic style and represents the fourth version of the old Governor’s Palace, made by the city’s founder, Tomé de Souza. The inside of this building designed by the Italian architect Júlio Conti holds the governors’ Memorial for the republican period (1889 to today) and many works of art. The big dome and the belvedere located in the wing facing the sea are true references in the city. Still inside, the iron and crystal stairway and a sculpture representing Tomé de Souza are worth mentioning.

Lacerda Elevator - Salvador’s main visual mark, the elevator had its first tower built in 1873 and started to function with two cabins for passenger transportation, which worked with a hydraulic system. At first, it was called Elevador da Conceição, since it was located near Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, but, in 1930, it got the name of its constructor, engineer Antônio de Lacerda, and it was completely remodeled and amplified, in a project that was very daring for the time. Currently with four electric lifts, Elevador Lacerda is the main access to the Lower and Higher cities, and from its high part, it is possible to have a panoramic view of the city.

Santa Casa and Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia – this collection, started out in the middle of the 17th century, took more than 200 years to be completed. With its two pavements, and several lower levels that follow the way down Ladeira da Misericórdia, it was developed around two square cloisters - one of which was later used for Hospital São Cristóvão’s wing’s enlargement - that face the church’s side, where one can find two overlapped houses and the tile pictures representing processions Fogaréu and Ossos, which took place until the 19th century, during Holy Week.

Sé Church – put down in 1933 for opening the way to cable cars heading to terminal da Sé, it currently shows only its bed and remains found during excavations. The old temple facing the sea was one of the most beautiful and magnificent buildings in the city. Connected to the Archiepiscopal Palace through a lifted passageway. There is a belvedere in the place that provides a privileged view to the Lower City, Península de Itapagipe, Todos os Santos Bay (All Saints Bay), and the Cruz Caída (Fallen Cross) Monument, which takes us back to the time when the city was put down and there was disrespect to the city’s religious, historical and artistic past.

Archiepiscopal Palace – built in the first half of the 18th century, in stonework, the palace was the residence of Brazil’s Prime Archbishop until the end of the 19th century. The three-story building with four bodies of the same height was developed around an internal patio. Its beautiful frontispiece has a gateway with pilasters that sustain a baroque front like the ones used in Portuguese 17th century churches and palaces.

Fountain – the monument was placed in Terreiro de Jesus in the middle of the 19th century to serve the downtown area. It was a milestone in the city’s public water system, which, until then, was made through fountains and streams. It has four statues that represent Bahia’s four largest rivers: São Francisco, Paraguaçú, Parto and Jequitinhonha.

Afro-Brazilian Museum – African and Afro-Brazilian works of art, such as musical instruments, sculptures, sacred objects and clothes, pictures, and murals, are in the museum, which holds material and spiritual aspects of African civilizations, as well as aspects of the African culture in the Brazilian civilization, in its permanent exhibitions. Written documents and classical and popular works of art are also included in the temporary exhibitions.

Pelourinho is an area that comprises some of Salvador’s oldest neighborhoods and shows the city’s expansion during the 17th and 18th centuries. Inventoried by IPHAN – National Artistic and Historical Heritage Institute and considered Humanity’s Heritage by UNESCO, it is full of old houses that belonged to government authorities, rich sugar cane plantation owners, and wealthy businessmen. Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos church reaffirms the devotion started by Dominican priests on the African Coast, and composes the scenery at Largo do Pelourinho (Pelourinho Square), which takes the visitor back to a time of riches and ostentation. Some buildings in Pelourinho, such as Solar do Ferrão, hold some of the most important museums in the city, like Museu Abelardo Rodrigues, Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado, Museu da Cidade, Museu das Portas do Carmo, and Museu Tempostal.

Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos Church - started in 1704 by Pelourinho’s Black Men Brotherhood, the construction of the temple lasted almost one century. The Black’s devotion to Nossa Senhora do Rosário comes from the African Dominican priests and got to the city with the slaves. Its frontispiece also presents towers covered with tiles; its inside also has tile pictures, with scenes of Rosário devoption in Lisbon.

Solar do Ferrão - building formed by the fusion of two houses in the end of the 17th century, it was the home of the Jesuit Seminar, and the laborer’s Circle. It currently holds IPAC’S headquarters (Bahia’s Artistic and Cultural Heritage Institute), and Museu Abelardo Rodrigues, whose access is through a beautiful and magnificent Portuguese ivory stairway.

Museu Tempostal - installed in a recuperated house in Pelourinho, it gathers picture and the country’s biggest postcard collection, with samples from all over the world between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Museu Abelardo Rodrigues - with Northeast’s largest saint collection, the museum exhibits religious objects that come from rural and urban homes from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

Casa de Jorge Amado Foundation - a center for the life and work of Bahian writer Jorge Amado, with pictures, books, and theses on the bibliography of Bahia’s most known novelist.

Museu da Cidade - with objects that represent the city’s 450-year-old culture, it brings distinct objects such as Mãe Menininha do Gantois chair, and sculptures of the Orixás (Candomblé divinities).

Museu das Portas do Carmo - exhibition of part of the old “Portas do Carmo Castle”, in thew city’s northern boundary, part of the wall that surrounded the city during the 17th century, and some pieces from the old armory.

The area between Largo do Carmo and Largo de Santo Antônio shows the city’s expansioon from the 17th century on, and has the religious collection made up of Nossa Senhora do Carmo’s convent and church, and Ordem Terceira do Carmo’s church as a monument. Churches Santíssimo Sacramento, on Passo Street - with its monumental access stairway - and Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Boqueirão, and Santo Antônio Além do Carmo deserve attention for the beauty of their frontispieces and inside areas. Cruz do Pascoal Oratory is an amazing construction located in the middle of a square on Santo Antônio Além do Carmo Street. In the same area is Santo Antônio Além do Carmo Fort, the old city’s north boundary’s defense rampart.

Santíssimo Sacramento Church - started in 1736, it has Portuguese tiles and neoclassical carving work inside. The building’s monumental aspect is enhanced by the stairway located across the street, which connects Ladeira do Carmo to Passo Street.

Ordem Terceira do Carmo Church re-built in 1788 on the original temple’s foundations, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1786, this church has a rococo frontispiece and neoclassical interior.

Nossa Senhora do Carmo Convent and Church - the collection, completed in the beginning of the 17th century, still out from the city’s first walls, is made up of a church and a two cloister convent. The temple’s inside is neoclassical and its main altar presents a nice silver front. The sacristy, decorated in baroque and rococo carving, is worth visiting. Inside, one will also find Carmo’s Sacred Art Museum, with the wooden sculpture “Christ tied to the column”.

Cruz do Pascoal Oratory - completed in the middle of the 17th century as a faith testimony by Portuguese Pascoal Marques de Almeida, this wonderful religious monument is made up of a Tuscan column and a niche inspired by 18th century churches‘ towers. The oratory is almost entirely covered by white and blue tiles, where the image of Nossa Senhora do Pilar is. During the 19th century, a fence was placed aroun the monument to protect it.

Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora da Conceição Church – located across from largo do Boqueirão, it was started in 1727. Its frontispiece has two towers and a rococo front covered by white tiles. The interior decoration in golden craving is neoclassical and the nave’s padding is baroque, with Italian inspiration.

Santo Antônio Além do Carmo Church, re-built in 1813, where a primitive temple was located, it has a rococo frontispiece, one only tower, and neoclassical carving inside. The church is located in a square of the same name, which has a typical 19th century bandstand and a belvedere with a view to the lower City, Itapagipe Peninsula, and Todos os Santos Bay.

Santo Antônio Além do Carmo Fort - built in the second half of the 17th century to protect the city’s northern entrance, this fortification was made on the place where the old trenches used to be, which served during resistance to the invasion of the city by soldiers from Companhia das Índias Ocidentais, in 1638.