The Florentine Amerigo Vespucci, on 1 January 1502, came to a
gulf at 13° S., to which he gave the name of Bahia de Todos Santos, and upon the shores
of which the city of Bahia now stands. Salvador was founded in 1549 by Tomé de Souza, the
first governor-general of colonial Brazil, and remained the nation's capital until 1763.
During colonial times, the city was invaded by the Dutch that occupied Salvador for
about a year 1624-1625, later they did several others attempts to take the city in 1638
and 1647. The growth of the capital city of Salvador came with the sugar plantations at
the end of the 16th century and continued throughout the 17th century. Bahia became the most prosperous and important slave trade center not only in
Brazil but in all of the Americas. Today, Salvador preserve his historical colonial
architectural monuments, magnificent mansions, baroque churches and forts. Restoration projects have recuperated the glory
of many of the oldest buildings.
As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549
to 1763, Salvador de Bahia witnessed the blending of European, African and Amerindian
cultures. It was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves
arriving to work on the sugar plantations. The city has managed to preserve many
outstanding Renaissance buildings. A special feature of the old town are the brightly
coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work. This is the text that design the
inscription of the Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia in the UNESCO list of the World
Heritage Monuments.
BOOKS ABOUT SALVADOR:
Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Domingos
(1731-1737), Terreiro de Jesus and Praça da Sé, Salvador (Bahia).
Convent and Igreja de São
Francisco, Salvador (Bahia). A baroque
church with a beautiful azulejos cloister. Forced to build their masters' church and yet
prohibited from practicing their own religion (Candomblé), the African slave artisans
responded through their work: the faces of the cherubs are distorted, some angels are
endowed with huge sex organs, some appear to be pregnant.
Cloister of the Convento (Convent) do São Francisco,
Igreja de São Francisco, Salvador (Bahia).
Cloister of the Convento (Convent) de São Francisco,
Igreja de São Francisco, Salvador (Bahia).
Igreja de Ordem Terceira de São
Francisco, Salvador (Bahia). This church is adjacent
to Igreja de São Francisco and it was constructed in 1702, it has a
gorgeous sandstone facade, which is unique in Brazil. The facade remained hidden until it
was accidentally discovered in the 1930s.
Pelourinho, Salvador (Bahia).
Pelourinho, Salvador (Bahia).
A beach, Salvador (Bahia).
A beach, Salvador (Bahia).
Mercado Modelo, Salvador. It's the major
craftsmanship pole in Salvador. Built in 1861 to be an customhouse, nowadays it has 259
tents which offers every kind of popular production in leather, straw, tissue, wood,
laces, semiprecious stones and silver, besides candies, fruits in syrup and craft drinks.
Basílica do Senhor Bom Jesus do
Bomfim, Salvador (Bahia). It's a 18th-century church
that houses a curious room called Sala dos Milagres (Room of Miracles)
where people leave votive offerings in thanks for cures, the votives forming a rather
bizarre collection of hanging plastic replicas of multitudinous problematic body parts.
