Salvador de Bahia Historic Centre
Unesco World Heritage
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. Founded in 1549 on a small peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast coast of Brazil, Salvador de Bahia became Portuguese America’s first capital and remained so until 1763. Its founding and historic role as colonial capital associate it with the theme of world exploration. Salvador de Bahia’s historic centre – an eminent example of Renaissance urban structuring adapted to a colonial site – is the Cidade Alta (Upper Town), a defensive, administrative and residential neighbourhood perched atop an 85-m-high escarpment. This densely built colonial city par excellence of the Brazilian northeast is distinguished by its religious, civil and military colonial architecture dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Salvador de Bahia is also notable as one of the major points of convergence of European, African and American Indian cultures of the 16th to 18th centuries. The settlement of Salvador de Bahia, strategically situated overlooking an immense bay on the Brazilian coast, was aimed at centralising the activities of the metropolis in Portuguese America and facilitating trade with Africa and the Far East. The city grew quickly, becoming Brazil’s main seaport and an important centre of the sugar industry and the slave trade. The historic centre’s main districts are Sé, Pelourinho, Misericórdia, São Bento, Taboão, Carmo and Santo Antônio.
Pelourinho
is characterized by its fidelity to the 16th-century plan, the density of its monuments and the homogeneity of its construction. In addition to major buildings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries such as the Catedral Basílica de Salvador and the churches and convents of São Francisco, São Domingos, Carmo and Santo Antônio, the Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia retains a number of 16th-century public spaces, including the Municipal Plaza, the Largo Terreiro de Jesus and the Largo de São Francisco, as well as baroque palaces, among them the Palácio do Arcebispado, Palácio Saldanha and Palácio Ferrão. There are many streets lined with brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work, that are characteristic of the colonial city. Salvador de Bahia was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations. Echoes of this multicultural past survive to the present day in the historic centre’s rich tangible and intangible heritage. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
Unesco World Heritage
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. Founded in 1549 on a small peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast coast of Brazil, Salvador de Bahia became Portuguese America’s first capital and remained so until 1763. Its founding and historic role as colonial capital associate it with the theme of world exploration. Salvador de Bahia’s historic centre – an eminent example of Renaissance urban structuring adapted to a colonial site – is the Cidade Alta (Upper Town), a defensive, administrative and residential neighbourhood perched atop an 85-m-high escarpment. This densely built colonial city par excellence of the Brazilian northeast is distinguished by its religious, civil and military colonial architecture dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Salvador de Bahia is also notable as one of the major points of convergence of European, African and American Indian cultures of the 16th to 18th centuries. The settlement of Salvador de Bahia, strategically situated overlooking an immense bay on the Brazilian coast, was aimed at centralising the activities of the metropolis in Portuguese America and facilitating trade with Africa and the Far East. The city grew quickly, becoming Brazil’s main seaport and an important centre of the sugar industry and the slave trade. The historic centre’s main districts are Sé, Pelourinho, Misericórdia, São Bento, Taboão, Carmo and Santo Antônio.
Pelourinho
is characterized by its fidelity to the 16th-century plan, the density of its monuments and the homogeneity of its construction. In addition to major buildings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries such as the Catedral Basílica de Salvador and the churches and convents of São Francisco, São Domingos, Carmo and Santo Antônio, the Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia retains a number of 16th-century public spaces, including the Municipal Plaza, the Largo Terreiro de Jesus and the Largo de São Francisco, as well as baroque palaces, among them the Palácio do Arcebispado, Palácio Saldanha and Palácio Ferrão. There are many streets lined with brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work, that are characteristic of the colonial city. Salvador de Bahia was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations. Echoes of this multicultural past survive to the present day in the historic centre’s rich tangible and intangible heritage. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
Largo do Pelourinho
The term ‘square’ is a bit of a misnomer for Porto Santo’s focal hub, because Largo do Pelourinho is triangle-shaped. Also, although it is the heart of town it is often a picture of quiet repose – an old man gently tapping his toe at the café, a visitor wandering into the church, a municipal official disappearing into the town hall. Date palms provide patches of shade, and you can also see a few Dragon Trees, a curious native of the Madeiran archipelago that oozes a red sap. This ‘Dragon’s Blood’ was once used in dyes and varnish for musical instruments, as well as in medicines (it was supposed to have magical properties). Most of the solid little Old Town Hall at the top end of Largo do Pelourinho dates back to the 16th century. Across the way is the seat of the Regional Government. Next door to the town hall, the parish church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade is on the site of Porto Santo’s first chapel, built between 1420 and 1446. This chapel was burned down by pirates in 1667, and the villagers then built the church we see today. A small gothic chapel on the south side of the building is all that remains of the original. The centerpiece of the church is a 17th-century painting of Mary Magdalene and a Deposition from the Cross. Beyond the church is the startlingly modern new town hall and Cultural & Congress Centre, often a venue for films, conferences and concerts. Behind the Congress Centre, on Rua Cristóvão Colombo, is the Capela de Misericórdia, a simple church in the Mannerist style, dating from the middle of the 16th century but battered by subsequent pirate raids. At the entrance is an old font for holy water, carved from Porto Santo stone. Source: http://www.porto-santo.com
The term ‘square’ is a bit of a misnomer for Porto Santo’s focal hub, because Largo do Pelourinho is triangle-shaped. Also, although it is the heart of town it is often a picture of quiet repose – an old man gently tapping his toe at the café, a visitor wandering into the church, a municipal official disappearing into the town hall. Date palms provide patches of shade, and you can also see a few Dragon Trees, a curious native of the Madeiran archipelago that oozes a red sap. This ‘Dragon’s Blood’ was once used in dyes and varnish for musical instruments, as well as in medicines (it was supposed to have magical properties). Most of the solid little Old Town Hall at the top end of Largo do Pelourinho dates back to the 16th century. Across the way is the seat of the Regional Government. Next door to the town hall, the parish church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade is on the site of Porto Santo’s first chapel, built between 1420 and 1446. This chapel was burned down by pirates in 1667, and the villagers then built the church we see today. A small gothic chapel on the south side of the building is all that remains of the original. The centerpiece of the church is a 17th-century painting of Mary Magdalene and a Deposition from the Cross. Beyond the church is the startlingly modern new town hall and Cultural & Congress Centre, often a venue for films, conferences and concerts. Behind the Congress Centre, on Rua Cristóvão Colombo, is the Capela de Misericórdia, a simple church in the Mannerist style, dating from the middle of the 16th century but battered by subsequent pirate raids. At the entrance is an old font for holy water, carved from Porto Santo stone. Source: http://www.porto-santo.com
Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco
São Francisco Church and Convent (Convento e Igreja de São Francisco)
The convent and its church are very important colonial monuments in Brazil. The friars of the Franciscan Order arrived in Salvador in 1587 and soon built a convent and church, but these were destroyed during the Dutch invasions of Bahia in the early 17th century. The works on the current convent began in 1686 under Father Vicente das Chagas following a grandiose design that took decades to complete. The current church was built between 1708 and 1723, but the interior was decorated by several artists during a great part of the 18th century. Most decoration of the church and convent were finished by 1755. The most important characteristic of the church is its exuberant inner decoration, mostly executed in the first half of the 18th century. All surfaces inside - walls, pillars, vaults and ceilings - are covered by golden sculpted gilt woodwork and paintings. The altarpieces display the typical Solomonic columns and concentric arches decorated with golden foliage, angels and birds, while the vaults of the aisles are covered by wooden panels with paintings. Blue-white tile (azulejo) panels, by Bartolomeu Antunes de Jesus and imported from Lisbon, cover the lower parts of the walls of the main chapel and transept and depict scenes of the life of St Francis of Assisi. The decoration of the church is considered one of the most complete and imposing in Portuguese-Brazilian Baroque gilt woodwork art (talha dourada), being a perfect example of the "golden church" (igreja dourada). The convent of São Francisco is also an important repository of Baroque art. The wooden ceiling of the entrance hall (Portaria) was painted with scenes in illusionistic perspective by José Joaquim da Rocha in 1774. The two-storey cloisters, finished around 1752, were decorated with monumental blue-and-white tile (azulejo) panels. The tiles, with moralistic allegories based on 17th century-Flemish engravings and sayings by Roman poet Horace, were manufactured in Lisbon. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
São Francisco Church and Convent (Convento e Igreja de São Francisco)
The convent and its church are very important colonial monuments in Brazil. The friars of the Franciscan Order arrived in Salvador in 1587 and soon built a convent and church, but these were destroyed during the Dutch invasions of Bahia in the early 17th century. The works on the current convent began in 1686 under Father Vicente das Chagas following a grandiose design that took decades to complete. The current church was built between 1708 and 1723, but the interior was decorated by several artists during a great part of the 18th century. Most decoration of the church and convent were finished by 1755. The most important characteristic of the church is its exuberant inner decoration, mostly executed in the first half of the 18th century. All surfaces inside - walls, pillars, vaults and ceilings - are covered by golden sculpted gilt woodwork and paintings. The altarpieces display the typical Solomonic columns and concentric arches decorated with golden foliage, angels and birds, while the vaults of the aisles are covered by wooden panels with paintings. Blue-white tile (azulejo) panels, by Bartolomeu Antunes de Jesus and imported from Lisbon, cover the lower parts of the walls of the main chapel and transept and depict scenes of the life of St Francis of Assisi. The decoration of the church is considered one of the most complete and imposing in Portuguese-Brazilian Baroque gilt woodwork art (talha dourada), being a perfect example of the "golden church" (igreja dourada). The convent of São Francisco is also an important repository of Baroque art. The wooden ceiling of the entrance hall (Portaria) was painted with scenes in illusionistic perspective by José Joaquim da Rocha in 1774. The two-storey cloisters, finished around 1752, were decorated with monumental blue-and-white tile (azulejo) panels. The tiles, with moralistic allegories based on 17th century-Flemish engravings and sayings by Roman poet Horace, were manufactured in Lisbon. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org
Terreiro de Jesus
one of the oldest areas in Salvador. It houses a large number of historic buildings, such as the Basilica Cathedral, built by the Jesuits in the 17th century, the Faculty of Medicine , the first in Brazil, and the churches of São Domingos Gusmão and São Pedro dos Clérigos. Source: www.bahia-turismo.com
one of the oldest areas in Salvador. It houses a large number of historic buildings, such as the Basilica Cathedral, built by the Jesuits in the 17th century, the Faculty of Medicine , the first in Brazil, and the churches of São Domingos Gusmão and São Pedro dos Clérigos. Source: www.bahia-turismo.com
Praça da Sé
The history of Praça da Sé reveals intriguing details about Salvador's development. From 1552 to 1933, the square was the site of the grand Sé Primacial cathedral, overlooking the bay. Sadly, the cathedral and its cemetery were razed in the '30s – roped-off remnants remain today – part of a plan to make wider avenues where streetcars could travel. By the 1950s, Praça da Sé was the home of Salvador's main bus terminal. Today, the plaza sees mostly tourist traffic. Source: www.lonelyplanet.com
The history of Praça da Sé reveals intriguing details about Salvador's development. From 1552 to 1933, the square was the site of the grand Sé Primacial cathedral, overlooking the bay. Sadly, the cathedral and its cemetery were razed in the '30s – roped-off remnants remain today – part of a plan to make wider avenues where streetcars could travel. By the 1950s, Praça da Sé was the home of Salvador's main bus terminal. Today, the plaza sees mostly tourist traffic. Source: www.lonelyplanet.com
Lacerda Elevator
Opened in 1873 was the first public elevator in the world. At the time, it was known as the Conceição Hydraulic Lift, due to its proximity to the Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia Church, and later renamed to Screw Elevator. In 1896 it was renamed after the engineer who designed the elevator, Antônio Lacerda. The Elevator was initially a tower with two passenger transportation booths. It was completely refurbished and expanded in 1930, gaining two additional towers and booths and taking on its current shape. http://www.visitbrasil.com
Opened in 1873 was the first public elevator in the world. At the time, it was known as the Conceição Hydraulic Lift, due to its proximity to the Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia Church, and later renamed to Screw Elevator. In 1896 it was renamed after the engineer who designed the elevator, Antônio Lacerda. The Elevator was initially a tower with two passenger transportation booths. It was completely refurbished and expanded in 1930, gaining two additional towers and booths and taking on its current shape. http://www.visitbrasil.com