Colourfully painted heritage buildings surround the cobblestone square in the heart of Salvador’s historic centre. Whether you love to feast your eyes on old architecture, people watch in a lively square or have lunch in an outdoor patio, you will find all of that and more in this lovely Old Town.
As we wondered through the historic district there seemed to be a never ending supply of streets lined by beautifully restored heritage buildings. Founded in 1549, Salvador was the capital of what was then called América Portuguesa and is now called Brazil. Established only 2 years after the colonial town of Olinda, Salvador was deemed to be important even before it was built. The Portuguese king decided that the land over looking Baía de Todos-os-Santos (All Saints Bay) be the location of the first capital in their new land. This decision also makes it the first planned city in the country. It held a prominent position for a long time since it remained the capital for almost 200 years until it was moved to Rio.
Salvador’s history has resulted in a fabulous historic centre and an easy place to spend a day. The perfectly restored Portuguese colonial buildings combine to form one of the best historical centres we have visited in any country.
Terreiro de Jesus (Yard of Jesus)
Formally named, Praça 15 de Novembro (November 15th Square) the main square in the city is more commonly called Terreiro de Jesus. Taking the most prominent position in the square is Basilica Cathedral of Salvador. It was originally built as a Jesuit church and is why the square is nicknamed Terreiro de Jesus (Yard of Jesus). Like many Jesuit churches, this 17th century building is a little understated from the outside.
The design of the church was based on a similar looking one in Coimbra, Portugal. You can read more about New Cathedral of Coimbra in our post Visit University of Coimbra’s Historical Buildings.
These initial impressions change though as soon as you enter the sanctuary where you are overwhelmed by glitter. At the front is a large golden alter and along each wall are equally impressive golden alcoves. Not to be outdone, the 3-dimensional ceiling has ornate wooden panels and ceramic-looking sculptures all painted in gold. It’s one of the most wonderful ceilings we’ve ever seen.
In front of the cathedral, the treed square is filled with visitors eating ice cream and açaí on park benches. Typical black and white Portuguese tiles cover the ground and the square’s border is fringed by colourful heritage buildings. It is a feast for your eyes.
There are a lot of churches in Salvador’s historic centre. On this square alone are three. Across from the cathedral are two beautiful 18th century churches that in any other city would be the main attraction.
Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco (Cross Square of St. Francis)
We stopped for lunch at one of the patios on the picturesque Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco. This small square is more like a wide cobblestone street on the side of the Terreiro de Jesus. A large cross at one end gives the square part of its name.
At the other end of the small square, the stone front of San Francisco Church takes your eyes away from the colourful buildings along the side. The best kept secret though is just around the corner. Hiding beside the church is an older, more impressive chapel. The façade of this chapel is breathtaking with intricately detailed stone designs. Most people don’t walk down the side street and are missing this impressive building.
The small streets and alleys extending out from Terreiro de Jesus are every bit as charming as the main square. Colourful buildings with faux balconies and old-style signs line the streets. Many of the buildings today are shops selling paintings, pottery and local jewelry.
Largo do Pelourinho (Pillory Square)
Only a short block away from Terreiro de Jesus is another brilliant square. Pelourinho Square is set on the slope of a hill. Its cobblestone streets streets, triangular shape and buildings painted in vibrant colours give it a unique feel.
It’s not all about the pretty buildings though. The word Pelourinho represents a horrible part of Brazil’s history. Pelourinho translates in English to pillory. These wooden, stock-like structures would keep the heads and hands of slaves contained while they were being publicly whipped; their punishment for some misdeed. Most of the whipping was done in this square. Pelourinho is the name of the square, but is commonly used to refer to the entire Old Town.
When Salvador was established, the main industry in the area was sugarcane. By the 1600s Brazil was the largest provider of sugarcane sugar to Europe. This meant that the Portuguese required a lot of manual labour. Initially they enslaved indigenous people for their workforce but there weren’t enough so they brought slaves from Africa. In total 1.3 million African slaves were brought to Bahia, the state that Salvador is now the capital. Brazil has the dishonourable distinction of not only bringing the most African slaves to it shores but also of continuing slavery for a longer period of time than anywhere else in the world.
Pelourinho Square doesn’t hide from its history and is now one of the most popular parts of Salvador to visit. The building that immediately drew our attention when we reached the square was the beautiful blue Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos. Translated to English it means The Church of the Third Order of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black People. Even though slave owners forced their slaves to become Christians, and likely to build the churches, they didn’t allow the slaves to attend their churches. Because of this a large group of slaves and freemen saved their money and raised donations. After almost 20 years they had enough money to build their own church. Its history is both disheartening and uplifting at the same time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see inside, but the décor is supposed to be remarkable.
The African slaves continued many of their ancestral traditions while in Brazil. Over the centuries African and Portuguese cultures merged to have a uniquely Salvadorian flavour. The obvious one to an outsider is the music. Calypso-like music can be heard in restaurants and coming from open shop windows. Another sign of Afro-Portuguese culture are the bright, full skirts, petticoats, lace tops and headscarves worn by Baianas de Acarajé women. Acarajé is a fried fritter and female slaves sold the fritters to make money, hoping to buy their way to freedom. Today Baianas de Acarajé can be seen working in many businesses in the historic district. In this heat it must be sweltering to wear so many layers of petticoats, but they are proud to represent their heritage. They reminded us a little of the Palenquera women selling flowers in the heritage district in Cartagena.
Ladeira do Carmo
From Pelouinho Square the cobblestone street, Ladeira do Carmo, climbs up to the community of Santo Antonio on the top of the hill. The homes with typical Portuguese azulejos tiles makes it one of the prettiest streets we found. Its curves and incline add another layer of charm to the already cute street.
With over 300 churches in Old Town, we knew we would see more than the five we had already seen. Climbing up Ladeira do Carmo, we found a few more. Most were in good condition, but as we approached Boqueirão Church we were put off by its shabby look and spray painted walls. Inside though, it was another story with a stunning, ornately designed interior.
Not all of the streets in the historic district have been restored and they reminded us that it wasn’t long ago that Pelourinho was poverty stricken and in extreme disrepair. Prior to the 1990s, locals wouldn’t go to Old Town as it was considered dangerous. Since then the government began restoring historic Salvador and it is a big draw for locals and tourists. Even with all the tourists in the area though, it is not advised to travel beyond the restored streets.
Praças da Sé & Tomé de Sousa (Foundation & Thomas de Sousa Squares)
On the other side of Terreiro de Jesus we found two more connected squares. Praça da Sé and Praça Tomé de Sousa weren’t as vibrant as other parts of the centre, but were still host to a few beautiful buildings. One is Palácio Rio Branco which was the former seat of the governor before Brazil achieved independence from Portugal.
From the edge of Praça da Sé you can look out to Baía de Todos os Santos (All Saints Bay). A little off shore is an island fort. São Marcelo Fort was built in the 17th century, and in the mid 1800s it was used as a jail for political rebels.
Beaches
Our main reason for visiting Salvador was to visit its UNESCO World Heritage centre. Being located on the coast in Brazil, you had to know that there would also be a few beaches. As city beaches, they may not be the nicest to swim in but do have pretty settings. Praia do Farol da Barra (Lighthouse Beach) is bookended by Santo Antônio da Barra Fort and Morro do Cristo. The 17th century fort and its lighthouse make a nice picture atop a rocky point. At the other end, a collection of palm trees below a grassy hill adds a unique look to the small beach.
Watching the sun set behind the light house was really special. Salvador is one of only three cities in Brazil where you can see the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean.
Further down the coast, is another small beach, Praia do Porto da Barra. There isn’t much to see in the small Santa Maria Fort but from it we had great views of Barra Lighthouse.
How to get to Salvador
As the capital of the state of Bahia, Salvador is easily accessible by plane, car, or bus. Within the city we found Uber the easiest way to get around. This may sound obvious, but it is very easy to mix up foreign words. We made this mistake and selected the wrong address for our hotel. The Uber driver knew it was wrong, and knew where we needed to go, but he said we had to make the change on the Uber app. Of course, this change had a fee attached.
Where to stay in Salvador
Salvador seems to be a city that is still in transition. Even in the neighbourhood of Barra, which is one of the safest neighbourhoods in the city, favela-style housing was located on the other side of the main street. We stayed in this district and didn’t have problems, but it was a little unnerving. There are quite a few boutique hotels in Pelourinho (Historic Centre), but we were told that at night it is not safe to walk anywhere.
This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Salvador.
Coming Next – Discover Ouro Preto’s Golden History
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