Salvador, Bahia
Encyclopedia
Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil
and the capital of the Northeastern
Brazilian state of Bahia
. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil
, the city is one of the oldest in the country and in the New World
. For a long time, it was simply known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century. Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
.
The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area
is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian
culture and this reflects in turn a curious situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and has been declared a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO
in 1985.
Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean
. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day
forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia
.
A particularly notable feature is the escarpment
that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (278.9 ft) above the latter, with the city's cathedral
and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator
(the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda, has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades.
(All Saints Bay) was first encountered by the Portuguese
and named in 1500. In 1501, one year after the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral
's fleet in Porto Seguro, Gaspar de Lemos
arrived at Todos os Santos Bay and sailed most of the Bahia coast. But the first European man to disembark on "Morro de São Paulo," Saint Paul's Mount, was Martim Afonso de Sousa, in 1531, leading an expedition to explore the coast of the new continent.
In 1510, a ship, containing the Portuguese settler named Caramuru
by the natives, wrecked near the borough of Rio Vermelho. In 1534, Francisco Pereira Coutinho founded a town near Barra borough, called Vila Velha, Portuguese for "Old Village."
In 1549, a fleet of Portuguese settlers
headed by Tomé de Sousa
, the first Governor-General
of Brazil, established Salvador. Built on a high cliff overlooking All Saints bay as the first colonial capital of colonial Brazil
, it quickly became its main sea port and an important center of the sugar
industry and the slave trade.
Salvador was divided into an upper and a lower city, the upper one being the administrative and religious area and where the majority of the population lived. The lower city was the financial center, with a port and market. In the late 19th Century, funicular
s and an elevator
, the Elevador Lacerda, were built to link the two areas.
The city became the seat of the first Catholic
bishopric
of Brazil in 1552, and is still a center of Brazilian Catholicism. By 1583, there were 1,600 people residing in the city, and it quickly grew into one of the largest cities in the New World
, surpassing any colonial American city at the time of the American Revolution
in 1776.
Salvador was the capital city of the Portuguese viceroyalty of Grão-Pará
and its province of Baía de Todos os Santos
. The Dutch admiral Piet Hein
of the West Indian Company
captured and sacked the city in May of 1624, and held it along with other north east ports until it was retaken by a Spanish-Portuguese fleet
in May 1625. It then played a strategically vital role in the Portuguese-Brazilian resistance against the Dutch.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil and remained so until 1763, when it was succeeded by Rio de Janeiro
. The city became a base for the Brazilian independence movement and was attacked by Portuguese troops in 1812, before being liberated on July 2, 1823. It settled into graceful decline over the next 150 years, out of the mainstream of Brazilian industrialization
. It remains, however, a nation
al cultural and tourist center. By 1948 the city had some 340,000 people, and was already Brazil's fourth largest city. In 2010 was 2,480,790 people, the third largest population of Brazil
.
In the 1990s, a major city project cleaned up and restored the old downtown area, the Pelourinho, or Centro Historico ("Historical Center
"). Now, the Pelourinho is a cultural center, and the heart of Salvador's tourist trade. Nonetheless, this social prophylaxis resulted in the forced removal of thousands of working class residents to the city
's periphery where they have encountered significant economic hardship.
Additionally, the Historical Center is now something of a depopulated architectural jewel whose "animation" must be brought in and sponsored by local shopowners and the Bahia
n state. Similar situations may be found in many UNESCO
World Heritage Sites today but the Pelourinho
, in light of Salvador's economic inequalities and ruling governmental coalition's of the 1990s, seems to have gone farther than most in sacrificing its population
to the needs of tourist-based preservation.
with no discernable dry season. Temperatures are relatively constant throughout the course of the year, featuring warm and humid conditions. Salvador’s driest month of the year is February, where the city receives on average 11 cm of precipitation. Salvador’s wettest months are between May and July and 21 cm of rain falls during these 3 months.
people (27.8%), 505,645 White
people (18.9%), 35,785 Asian
people (1.3%), 7,563 Amerindian
people (0.3%).
In 2010, the city of Salvador was the 3rd most populous city in Brazil
, after São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
.
In 2010, the city had 474,827 opposite-sex couples and 1,595 same-sex couples. The population of Salvador was 53.3% female
and 46.7% male
.
Most of the population is in part descended from Black Africa
n slaves, who were mainly Yoruba speakers
from Nigeria
, Ghana
, Togo
and Benin
.
According to an autosomal DNA study, the ancestral heritage of the population of Salvador was estimated to be 49.20% African, 36.30% European
and 14.50% Native American
.
Source: Planet Barsa Ltda.
Source: IBGE
2000.
Throughout Brazilian history
Salvador has played an important role. In 1549 it became the first capital
of Brazil. Throughout the colonial era
Salvador was the colony's largest and most important city. Because of its strategic location
on Brazil's northeastern coast, the city served as an important link in the Portuguese empire
, maintaining close commercial ties with Portugal
and Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. Salvador remained the preeminent city in Brazil until 1763 when it was replaced as the national capital by Rio de Janeiro
. In the last ten years were constructed many high-rise office
and apartment
building
s share the same block with colonial-era housing or commercial buildings. With its beaches, humid tropical climate, numerous up-to-date shopping mall
s and pleasant middle-class residential areas, the city has much to offer its residents. Economically Salvador is one of Brazil's more important cities. Since its founding the city has been one of Brazil's most prominent port
s and international trading centers. Boasting a large oil refinery, a petrochemical plant and other important industries, the city has made great strides in reducing its historical dependence on agriculture
for its prosperity.
Salvador is the second most popular tourist
destination in Brazil. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of job
s and income, boosting the art
s and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage. Chief among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories
that once stood there) district, its historic churches, and its beach
es. Salvador's tourism infrastructure
is considered one of the most modern in Brazil, especially in terms of lodging. The city offers accommodation to suit all tastes and standards, from youth hostels to international hotel
s. Construction
is one of the most important activities in the city, and many international (mainly from Spain
, Portugal
and England
) and national developers are investing in the city and in the Bahian littoral zone.
Ford Motor Company
has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari
, assembling the Ford EcoSport
, Ford Fiesta
, Ford Fiesta Sedan
. It was the first Automotive industry
in Northeastern Brazil. The industry employs 800 engineers.
JAC Motors will has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari
, the new industry will result 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, the production of 100,000 vehicles by year.
In December 2001, Monsanto Company inaugurated, at the Petrochemical Pole of Camaçari
, in Metropolitan Region of Salvador, the first plant of the company designed to produce raw materials for the herbicide
Roundup in South America
. The investment is equivalent to US$ 500 millions; US$ 350 millions were spent in this initial phase. The Camaçari
Plant, the largest unit of Monsanto outside of the United States
, is also the only Monsanto plant manufacturing raw materials for the Roundup production line. The company started the civil works for the new plant in January 2000.
The Salvador coastline is one of the longest for cities in Brazil
. There are 50 km (31.1 mi) of beach
es distributed between the High City and the Low City, from Inema, in the railroad suburb to the Praia do Flamengo, on the other side of town. While the Low City beaches are bordered by the waters of the All Saints Bay (the country's most extensive bay), the High City beach
es, from Farol da Barra to Flamengo, are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean
. The exception is Porto da Barra Beach
, the only High City beach located in the All Saints Bay.
The big hotel
s tend to be strung out along the orla (Atlantic seafront). There are also smaller hotels in Barra and Porto da Barra, others (generally less expensive) scattered along the principal thoroughfare of Avenida Sete de Setembro (shortened to "Avenida Sete" by the locals), and still others (usually inexpensive) in and around Pelourinho.
There are also pousadas (guest houses, or bed and breakfasts) in Barra, Pelourinho, and Santo Antônio (and other places as well, to be sure), and hostels (albergues), which are for the most part located in Pelourinho (though a lot of the "pousadas" in Barra are hostels as well).
The capital's beaches range from calm inlets, ideal for swimming, sailing, diving and underwater fishing, as well as open sea inlets with strong waves, sought by surfers. There are also beaches surrounded by reef
s, forming natural pools of stone, ideal for children.
Interesting places to visit near Salvador include:
The city is served by many shopping mall
s: Shopping Iguatemi, Salvador Shopping, Shopping Barra, and Shopping Paralela.
Salvador has four parks, green area
s protected, as Jardim dos Namorados Park, Costa Azul Park, Park of the City, Park of Pituaçu.
Jardim dos Namorados is located right next to Costa Azul Park and occupies an area of 15 hectares in Pituba, where many families used to spend their vacations in the 1950s. It was inaugurated in 1969, initially as a leisure area. It underwent a complete renovation in the 1990s, with the construction of an amphitheater with room for 500 people, sport
s courts, playgrounds and parking
for cars and tourist bus
es.
Costa Azul Park occupies an area of approximately 55,000 square meters, and is located in the neighborhood that goes by the same name.
Park of the City is an important preservation area of the Atlantic forest. It was completely renovated in 2001, becoming a modern social, cultural and leisure place. The new park has 720 square meter of green area right in the middle of the city. Among the attractions are Praça das Flores (Flowers square), with more than five thousand ornamental plant
s and flower
s. Besides its environment, the park
has an infrastructure
for children, with a special schedule of events taking place every October.
Created by state decree in 1973, Pituaçu Park occupies an area of 450 hectares and is one of the few Brazilian ecological parks located in an urban area
. It is surrounded by Atlantic forest, with a good variety of plant
s and animal
s. There is also an artificial pond in the park, built in 1906 along with the Pituaçu Dam, whose purpose was to supply water to the city. There are a number of possible leisure activities, ranging from cycloboats rides on the pond, to an 18 km (11.2 mi) long cycloway circling the entire reserve. Completing this infrastructure there are several options for children to play, snack bars, ice cream
parlors and restrooms. A museum is also located in the park. Espaço Cravo is an outdoor museum with 800 pieces created by Mario Cravo, comprising Totems, winged and three-dimensional figures, as well as drawing
s and painting
s.
There are more than 128 universities in whole state of Bahia.
:
The city has several language schools of Portuguese
for foreigners.
s of the city are Pan American School of Bahia, Anglo-Brasileiro Academy, Federal Institute of Bahia (IFBA - Cefet), Military College of Salvador, Anchieta Academy, Oficina Academy, Salesiano Academy, Miró Academy, Marista School of Salvador, Antônio Vieira Academy, Módulo Academy, Sartre Academy, São Paulo Academy, Cândido Portinari Academy, Integral Academy, São José Academy, Alfred Nobel Academy (now owned of the Sartre Academy), Nossa Senhora da Conceição Academy, Santíssimo Sacramento Academy, Diplomata Academy, Nossa Senhora do Resgate Academy, Gregor Mendel Academy and Thales de Azevedo State High School.
by UNESCO
. The city represents a fine example the Portuguese
urbanism
from the middle of the 16th century with its higher administrative town and its lower commercial
town, and a large portion of the city has retained the old character of its streets and colourful houses.
As the first capital of Portuguese America, Salvador cultivated slave labor and had its "pelourinhos" pillories installed in open places like the terreiro de Jesus and the squares know today as Thomé de Souza and Castro Alves
. The "pelourinho" was a symbol of authority
and justice
, for some, and lashings and injustice for the majority. The one erected for a short time in what is now the Historical Center, and later moved to what is now the Praça da Piedade (Square of Piety), ended up lending its name to the historical and architectural complex of Pelourinho, part of the city's historical center
.
Since 1992, the Pelourinho
neighborhood has been subject to a nearly US$ 100 million "restoration
" that has led to the rebuilding of hundreds of buildings' facades and the expulsion of the vast majority of the neighborhood's Afro-descendent population. This process has given rise to substantial political debate in the State of Bahia
, since the Pelourinho's former residents have been for the most part excluded from the renovation's economic benefits (reaped by a few). A major restoration effort resulted in making the area a highly desirable tourist attraction
.
Salvador's considerable wealth and status during colonial
time
s (as capital of the colony
during 250 years and which gave rise to the Pelourinho) is reflected in the magnificence of its colonial palace
s, churches and convent
s, most of them dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. These include:
, golden cuisine
, cultural manifestations, and custom of Bahia's people.
until 1763, Salvador was an important cultural centre since the 16th century, as reflected in the large number of prominent literary figures associated with colonial Salvador, usually educated in the religious schools of the convents of the city and in the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Frei Vicente do Salvador (1564–1635), a Bahia-born Franciscan friar who studied in the Jesuit School of Salvador, was the author of the first book on Brazilian history written by a Brazil-born author.
Gregório de Mattos
, born in Salvador in 1636, was also educated by the Jesuits. He became the most important Baroque poet in colonial Brazil for his religious and satirical works. Father António Vieira was born in Lisbon in 1608, but was raised and educated in the Jesuit school of Salvador and died in the city in 1697. His erudite sermon
s have earned him the title of best writer of the Portuguese language
in the Baroque era.
After the Independence of Brazil (1822), Salvador continued to play an important role in Brazilian literature. Significant 19th century writers associated with the city include Romantic
poet Castro Alves
(1847–1871) and diplomat Ruy Barbosa
(1849–1923). In the 20th century, Bahia-born Jorge Amado
(1912–2001), although not born in Salvador, helped popularize the culture of the city around the world in novels such as Jubiabá
, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos
, and Tenda dos Milagres, the settings of which are in Salvador.
in colonial Brazil (established 1551), and the first bishop, Pero Fernandes Sardinha, arrived already in 1552. The Jesuits, led by the Manuel da Nóbrega
, also arrived in the 16th century and worked in converting the Indigenous peoples
of the region to Roman Catholicism
.
Many religious orders came to the city, following its foundation: Franciscans, Benedictines and Carmelites
. Subsequently to them are created the Third Orders, the Brotherhoods, and Fraternities, which were composed mainly of professional and social groups. The most prominent of these orders were the Terceira do Carmo Order and the de São Francisco Order, founded by white men, and the Nossa Senhora do Rosário and São Beneditino Brotherhoods, composed of black men. In many churches maintained by religious men, were housed the Santíssimo Sacramento brotherhoods.
Besides these organizations, the expansion of Catholicism
in the city was consolidated through social care work. Santa Casa the Misericórdia was one of the institution that did this kind of work, maintaining hospital
s, shelters for the poor and the elderly, as well providing assistance to convicts and to those who would face death penalties. The convent
s, on their part, were cultural and religious formation centers, offering seminar coursed that often were attended by the lay.
Even with the present evolution, and the growth of Protestantism
and other religions in the city, the Catholic faith remains as one of its most distinctive features, drawing a lot of people to its hundreds of churches. Some aspects, like the use of Portuguese in the Masses, the simplification of the liturgy, and the adoption of "pop
" religious song
s are key factors to the triumph of Catholicism
. In the Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos Church, Masses are held in the Yorubá language, making use of African chants and typical clothes, which attract many people from the African Brazilian communities.
Most enslaved Africans in Bahia were brought from Sub-Saharan Africa
, especially the Yoruba-speaking
nation (Iorubá or Nagô in Portuguese) from present-day Nigeria
. The enslaved were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism, but their original religion, Candomblé
, has survived in spite of prohibitions and persecutions. The enslaved Africans managed to preserve their religion by attributing the names and characteristics of their Candomblé deities to Catholic saints with similar qualities.
Hence, as former pagan Christians once associated Pagan deities with the saints, enslaved Africans in Bahia transformed their faiths into a syncretic form of religion that still attempts to please both their own roots and the faith imposed by their masters and those caught in between both traditions. Thus, up to today, even nominal Catholics take part in Candomblé rituals in the terreiros or "centros". Candomblé is based on the cult of the Orisha
s (Orixás), like Obatala
(Oxalá), father of humankind; Ogoun
(Ogum), god of the war and iron; Yemanja (Iemanjá), goddess of the sea, rivers and lakes.
These religious entities have been syncretised with some Catholic entities. For instance, Salvador's Feast of Bonfim
, celebrated in January, is dedicated to both Our Lord of Bonfim (Jesus Christ) and Oxalá. Another important feast is the Feast de Yemanja every February 2, on the shores of the borough of Rio Vermelho in Salvador, on the day the church celebrates Our Lady of the Navigators. December 8, Immaculate Conception Day for Catholics, is also commonly dedicated to Yemanja' with votive offerings made in the sea throughout the Brazilian coast.
Religious syncretism
is defined as the combination of two or more creeds. In Brazil, especially in Bahia, it came up as a solution for the slaves who were prohibited from practicing their religion
, so they pretended to be worshiping catholic saints while in reality they were venerating their own deities. Hence, associating an orixá (Candoblé deity) to a catholic was a strategy used by black people to maintain their beliefs and ritual
s alive, while they fooled their masters, making them believe that their devotion was to the catholic saints.
The lives of catholic
saints and their own physical features, portrayed on sculptures and drawings, made the identification with the orixás easier. Salvador is a city
where different ethnic and cultural aspects are mixed up, but religious syncretism remains as one of its most intriguing features. Its ancient churches are a proof of the power of Catholicism
, which was brought by the Portuguese
and forced upon Blacks
and Indigenous
.
The local cuisine, spicy and based on seafood (shrimp, fish), strongly relies on typically African ingredients and techniques, and is much appreciated throughout Brazil and internationally. The most typical ingredient is azeite-de-dendê
, an oil extracted from a palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) brought from West Africa
to Brazil during colonial times.
Using the milky coconut
juice
, they prepared a variety of seafood
based dishes, such as Ensopados, Moquecas and Escabeche. The sugar cane bagasse was mixed with molasses and Rapadura, in the creation of coconut desserts like Cocada Branca and Preta. The remaining of the Portuguese Stew sauce was mixed with manioc flour to make a mush, which is a traditional Indian dish. In the markets of Salvador, it is possible to find stands selling typical dishes of the colonial era. In the Sete Portas Market, customers eat Mocotó on Friday nights since the 1940s, when the market was inaugurated. In the restaurant
s of Mercado Modelo (Model Market), Sarapatel, stews and several fried dishes are served regularly. In the São Joaquim, Santa Bárbara and São Miguel markets, there are stands selling typical food. They are also sold at stands located on the beach
es, specially crab stews and oysters. The restaurants that sell typical dishes are located mostly along the coast and in Pelourinho. They prepare a wide variety of recipes that take palm tree oil
.
Traditional dishes include caruru, vatapá
, acarajé
, bobó-de-camarão, moqueca
baiana, and abará. Some of these dishes, like the acarajé and abará, are also used as offerings in Candomblé
rituals. An acarajé is basically a deep-fried "bread
" made from mashed beans from which the skins have been removed (reputedly feijão fradinho "black-eyed peas" but in reality almost always the less expensive brown beans so ubiquitous in Bahia
). But Salvador is not only typical food
. Other recipes created by the slaves were the Haussá Rice (rice and jerked beef
cooked together), the Munguzá, used as offering to the Candomblé deity Oxalá (who is the father of all deities, according to the religion) pleased the matrons very much. So did the Bolinhos the Fubá, the Cuscuz (cornmeal) and the Mingau (porridge). According to Arany Santana, the Ipetê (used in the ritual
s to the deity Oxum) became the Shrimp Bobó (a kind of mush), and the Akará (honoring the deities Xangô and Iansã) became the world-famous Acarajé. Who comes here also has a large number of restaurants specialized on international
cuisine. There also places that serve dishes from other states of Brazil
, especially from Minas Gerais
and the Northeast region.
Capoeira
is a unique mix of dance
and martial art of Afro-Brazilian origin, combining agile dance moves with unarmed combat techniques. Capoeira in Portuguese literally means "chicken coop." The presence of capoeira in Brazil is directly connected to the importation of African slaves by the Portuguese, and Salvador is considered the centre of origin of the modern capoeira branches.
. In the first half of the 20th century, Salvador-born masters Mestre Bimba
and Mestre Pastinha
founded capoeira schools and helped standartise and popularise the art in Brazil and the world. The practice of Capoeira was banned in 1892, though in 1937 it was made legal. In recent years, Capoeira has become more international and accessible even in Salvador, with classes available in English by Brooklyn-born Monitor Feijao of Capoeira Brasil Bahia.
The artistic, cultural and social heritage of Salvador is preserved in museums. From Museu de Arte da Bahia (MAB), which is the oldest in the State, to Museu Náutico, the newest, the first capital of Brazil preserve unique pieces of history.
Even so, the importance of Salvador's museum
s has drawn the interest of experts from Brazil
and abroad. There we can find valuable pieces of religious art, ornamental items from the old manors and also objects that belonged to the old families and public figures of the state. The Arte Sacra and Abelardo Rodrigues museums are must, see programs. They both have the biggest sacra art collection in the country. Another obligatory tour is to Museu de Arte da Bahia.
Museu de Arte da Bahia has paintings, Chinese porcelain, furniture and sacra images from the 17th and 18th centuries. Museu Costa Pinto has private, owned items such as, pieces of art, crystal objects, furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, tapestry, sacra pieces and Chinese porcelain. The golden jewelry and the 27 ornamental silver
buckles are the most precious in the entire collection.
Another important museum is Museu da Cidade, where many items that help to preserve the heritage of old Salvador are kept. There we can find thematic objects that belonged to public personalities in the state like dolls, orixá statues and religious images. There is also an art gallery located inside of the museums. There is also Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado, with pictures, objects and the life's stories of the author of memorable novels that portray old Bahia like, Gabriela – Cravo e Canela, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos, O País do Carnaval and Tieta do Agreste.
Some churches and monasteries also have museums located in their premises. Examples of this are the Carmo da Misericórdia and São Bento Museums. After the renovation of the Forts, were created Museu Náutico, in Forte de Santo Antonio da Barra (Farol da Barra) and Museu da Comunicação, in Forte São Diogo. Other important museums that are scattered through Salvador are: Museu do Cacau, Museu geológico do Estado, Museu tempostal, Solar do Ferrão, Museu de Arte Antiga e Popular Henriqueta M Catharino, Museu Eugênio Teixeira Leal and Museu das Portas do Carmo.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the carnival
or Carnaval of Salvador da Bahia is the biggest street party on the planet. For an entire week, almost 2 million people celebrate throughout 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) of streets, avenues and squares. The direct organization of the party involves the participation of 100 thousand people. Its dimensions are gigantic. Salvador receives an average of 800 thousand visitors.
The cover was done by 2,446 professionals in local press, national, and international
. The carnival was broadcast to 135 countries through 65 radio station
s, 75 magazine
s, 139 producers of video
, 97 newspaper
s (21 international), 14 tv stations, and 168 website
s.
Rei Momo: The King of Carnival
, Momo, is handed the keys to the city in the morning
, on the Thursday before Fat Tuesday, and the party officially begins. Camarotes: These grandstands line the street in the neighborhood of Campo Grande. Watch the show from here without being trampled by the crowd. Trios Eléctricos: Outfitted with deafening sound systems, these 60-foot-long trucks carry a kick line of gyrating, scantily clad dancers along with the city's best-loved performers, among them Ivete Sangalo
, Daniela Mercury
, Cláudia Leitte
, Chiclete com Banana
, Carlinhos Brown
, and others.
The music played during Carnaval includes Axé
and Samba-reggae. Many "blocos" participate in Carnaval, the "blocos afros" like Malé Debalé, Olodum and Filhos de Gandhi being the most famous of them. Carnival is heavily policed. Stands with five or six seated police
officers are erected everywhere and the street
s are constantly patrolled by police groups moving in single file.
The Osmar Circuit: goes from Campo Grande to Castro Alves
square, The Downtown Circuit, in Downtown and Pelourinho
, and The Dodô Circuit; goes from Farol da Barra
to Ondina, along the coast
. The Osmar circuit is the oldest circuit. It is also where the event's most traditional groups parades. In Dodô, where the artist box seats are located, the party becomes lively toward the end of the afternoon
and it continues until morning
.
The three Carnival Circuits are:
: Daniela Mercury, Eva, Capital Inicial, Titãs, Skank, Jota Quest, Ivete Sangalo, Chiclete com Banana, Ana Carolina, and others. The price of admission has yet to be set. Attractions international as Akon
, Gloria Gaynor
, Men at Work
, Eagle-Eye Cherry
, Fatboy Slim
, Ben Harper
, Manu Chao
, Westlife
, The Gladiators and Alanis Morissette
already sang in Summer Festival.
originated as a black American form of music that started in the 1960s and included artists like James Brown
and The Funk Brothers
.
Although funk
was embraced by many parts of Brazil
, its sound would eventually become localized so the music would differ from city to city. This difference can be viewed with the funk scenes in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The music and the environment are all representative of the city where one listens to funk music.
For instance, the music played in Salvador at a Black Bahia Funk Ball is more American
than its counterpart in Rio de Janeiro
. Music material from Rio, which sells reasonably well around Rio, is poorly known in Salvador and, in any case, held to be inferior and "less modern" than funk sung in English
. Another difference can be seen with the funk dancehalls. The Ball incorporates the entire setting, which entails the attire, the slang, the specific way of dancing break, the decoration, the organization of permanent dance groups.
s that arrived in Salvador, were brought by the Jesuits, who came with Tomé de Souza. The first libraries or bookstores that appeared were under the control of the religious missionaries and were mostly composed of books on religion
. Areas combining leisure
and culture
, Salvador's libraries are an entertainment option for tourists and researchers. Some of these spaces have religious origins, some of them are temples of knowledge
accessible only to a few, due to the fragility of the relics they contain.
The Benedictine
, Carmelites
, Franciscans and Capuchin
orders have in Salvador, titles related to fundamental aspects of the state's history, being important for a comprehensive view of the political, religious, moral and artistic formation of the city. Conversely to the restrictive religious libraries, the public libraries and the ones linked to institutions that give incentive to culture
and information
, provide the general public with a variety of titles.
, leather
, clay
, wood
, seashell
s and bead
s), the most rudimentary crafts are reasonably inexpensive. Other pieces are created with the use of metals like gold
, silver
, copper
and brass
. The most sophisticated ones are ornamented with precious and semi-precious gems. The craftsmen and women generally choose religion as the main theme of their work.
They portray the images of Catholic saints and Candomble deities on their pieces. The good luck charms such as the clenched fist, the four-leaf clover, the garlic and the famous Bonfim ribbons express the city's religious syncretism. Nature is also portrayed on these pieces, reflecting the local wildlife
. Music appears in the atabaque drums, the rain sticks, the water drums and the famous berimbau, along with other typical instruments.
Salvador holds an international reputation as a city where musical instruments that produce unique sounds are made. These instruments are frequently used by world-famous artists in their recording sessions. A place to see Salvador's handcrafts production is Mercado Modelo, which is the biggest handcraft center in Latin America
. Pieces can also be purchased at Instituto de Artesanato de Mauá and at Instituto do Patrimônio Artístico e Cultural (IPAC). These are organizations that promote typical art
in Bahia
.
Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport
is located in an area of more than 6 million square meters between sand dunes and native vegetation. The airport lies 20 km (12.4 mi) north of Downtown Salvador and the road to the airport has already become one of the city's main scenic attractions. In 2011, the airport handled 6,948,020 passengers and 114,946 aircraft movements, placing it 7th busiest airport in Brazil in terms of passengers. The airport's use has been growing at an average of 14% a year and now is responsible for more than 30% of passenger movement in Northeastern Brazil.
, located in the Bahia de Todos os Santos, holds status as the port with the highest movement of containers of the North
/Northeast
and the second-leading fruit
exporter in Brazil
. The port's facilities operate from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM.
The ability to handle high shipping volume has positioned the port of Salvador for new investments in technological modernization, and the port is noted for implementing a high level of operational flexibility and competitive rates. The goal of port officials is to offer the necessary infrastructure
for the movement of goods, while simultaneously meeting the needs of international importers and exporters.
is under construction, and its 1st phase will be ready in March 2008, between Lapa and Acceso Norte Station
s, and in 2009 will be ready the stations between Acceso Norte and Pirajá. In 2009 it will have 12.5 km (7.8 mi) and 8 stations and will have link with the bus
system
.
The main shareholders in Metro Salvador are the Spanish
companies Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
, Dimetronic, and ICF
. It is expected that Metro Salvador will invest US$ 150 million in rolling stock and signalling and telecommunications equipment. The contract covers the first 11.9 km (7.4 mi) line from Pirajá to Lapa, which is due to open in 2003. The project is also financed by a US$ 150 million World Bank
loan and contributions from the federal, Bahia state, and Salvador city government
s.
Salvador Metro system is one of the actions of urban
mobility
that will be deployed until the 2014 FIFA World Cup
. The connection of Line 2 with Line 1 of Salvador Metro contributes to connect the International Airport to Downtown Salvador and the Fonte Nova Stadium. The new Line 2 of Salvador Metro integrates the metro stations of the Rótula do Abacaxi and the beach city of Lauro de Freitas
in the metropolitan area, passing through the Salvador International Airport, with the Airport metro station
.
The BR-101
and BR-116 federal highway
s cross Bahia
from north to south, connecting Salvador to the rest of the country. At the Feira de Santana
junction, take the BR-324 state highway. The capital of Bahia is served by several coach companies from almost every Brazilian state. BR-242, starting at São Roque do Paraguaçu (transversal direction), is linked to BR-116, bound to the middle–west region. Among the state highways stands BA-099, which makes connection to the north coast and BA-001, which makes connection to the south of Bahia
. Bus
es provide direct service to most major Brazilian cities, including Rio de Janeiro
, São Paulo
, and Brasília
, as well as regional destinations. In 2007, the city had 586,951 vehicle
s, the largest number of the Northern and Northeastern Brazil.
Four paved highway
s connect the city to the national highway system. Running north from the Farol (lighthouse
) de Itapoã are hundreds of miles of wonderful beach
es. These beaches are accessible via the BA-099
Highway or (Line of Coconut and Green Line), a (toll) road
, kept in excellent condition, running parallel to the coast
, with access roads leading off to the coast itself. The road
runs along dune
s of snow-white sand, and the coast itself is an almost unbroken line of coconut palms. The communities along this coast range from fishing
village
s to Praia do Forte
.
and its project conducted by the Portuguese
engineer
Luís Dias (who was responsible for the city's original design), the continuous growth of the capital through the decades was completely spontaneous. The walls of the city-fortress could not hold the expansion of the city, towards the Carmo and the area where now stands Castro Alves
Square. At the time of its foundation, Salvador had only two squares and the first neighborhood ever built here was the Historic City Center. Pelourinho and Carmo came subsequently, created as a consequence of the growing need of space that the religious
orders had. With the rapid expansion, the neighborhoods grew and many of them were clustered in the same area, so today there are not accurate records as to their exact number. For urban
management purposes, the city is currently divided on 17 political-administrative zones. However, due to their very cultural
relevance and to postal conveniences, the importance of the neighborhoods of Salvador remains intact. They represent the city's lively atmosphere and its cosmopolitan
character.
Salvador is divided into a number of distinct neighborhoods, with the most well known districts being Pelourinho, the Historic Centre, Comércio, and Downtown, all located in West Zone. Barra
, with its Farol da Barra, beach
es and which is where one of the Carnival circuits begins, Barra is home of the Portuguese Hospital and Spanish Hospital, the neighborhood is located in South Zone. Vitória, a neighborhood with many high rise buildings, is located in South Zone.
Campo Grande, with its Dois de Julho Square and the monument to Bahia's independence, is also located in South Zone, as is Graça
, an important residential area.
Ondina, with Salvador's Zoobotanical Garden
and the site where the Barra-Ondina Carnival circuit ends, the neighborhood is home of the Spanish Club, is also a neighborhood in the South Zone.
Itaigara, Pituba, Horto Florestal, Caminho das Árvores, Loteamento Aquárius, Brotas, Stiep, Costa Azul, Armação, Jaguaribe and Stella Maris are the wealthiest neighborhoods in the East Zone and the city. Rio Vermelho, a neighborhood with a rich architectural history and numerous restaurants and bars, is located in the South Zone. Itapoã, known throughout Brazil as the home of Vinicius de Moraes
and for being the setting of the song "Tarde em Itapoã", is located in East Zone.
The Northwest area of the city in along the Bay of All Saints, also known as Cidade Baixa ("Lower city"), contains the impoverished suburban neighborhoods of Periperi
, Paripe, Lobato, Liberdade, Nova Esperança, and Calçada. The neighborhood of Liberdade
(Liberty) has the largest proportion of Afro-Brazilian
s of Salvador and Brazil
.
stadium inaugurated on January 28, 1951 in Salvador, Bahia
, with a maximum capacity of 66,080 people. The stadium is owned by the Bahia government, and is the home ground of Esporte Clube Bahia
. Its formal name honors Octávio Cavalcanti Mangabeira, a civil engineer, journalist, and former Bahia state governor from 1947 to 1954. The stadium is nicknamed Fonte Nova, because it is located at Ladeira das Fontes das Pedras. The stadium was in 2007 closed due to an accident, and the E.C. Bahia home matches now happen in another stadium, in Pituaçu.
Esporte Clube Bahia
and Esporte Clube Vitória
are Salvador's main football teams. Bahia has won 2 national titles, Brazil Trophy
in 1959 and the Brazilian League in 1988, while Vitória was a runner up in the Brazilian league in 1993 and Brazil Cup
in 2010.
Salvador has two large green areas for the practice of golf
. Cajazeiras Golf and Country Club has a 18-hole course, instructors, caddies and equipment for rent. Itapuã Golf club, located in the area of the Sofitel Hotel, has a 9-hole course, equipment store, caddies and clubs for rent. Tennis
is very popular among Salvador's elites, with a great number of players and tournaments in the city's private clubs. Brasil Open, the country’s most important tournament happens every year in Bahia
.
During the last decades, volleyball
has grown steadily in Salvador, especially after the gold medal won by Brazil in the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona. The most important tournaments in Bahia
are the State Championship, the State League tournament and the Primavera Games, and the main teams are Associação Atlética da Bahia, Bahiano de Tênis, and Clube the Regatas Itapagipe. There are also beach volleyball
events. Salvador has housed many international tournaments. Federação Bahina de Voleibol (the state league) can inform the schedule of tournaments. Bowling
is practiced both by teenagers and adult
s in Salvador. Boliche do Aeroclube and Space Bowling are equipped with automatic lanes as well as a complete bar infrastructure
.
Bahia
's basketball
league exists since 1993 and has 57 team
s. The sport is very popular in the city of Salvador, especially among student
s. There are several courts scattered across the city, where is possible to play for free, like the one located at Bahia Sol square, where people play. There are also several gym
nasiums, in club
s like Bahiano de Tênis and Associação Atlética and the Antonio Balbino Gymnasiums (popularly known as "Balbininho"), which is an arena that can hold up to 7,000 people.
Todos os Santos Bay and Salvador's climatic conditions are ideal for competition and recreational sailing
. The city is equipped with good infrastructure
for practice of sailing, such as rental and sale of dock space, boat maintenance, restaurant
s, snack bar, convenience stores, nautical products stores, boat rental agencies, VHF and SSB communication systems, events, and total assistance to crews. The large number of sailing events organized by club
s and syndicate
s, like oceanic races and typical boats (wooden fishing boat
s and canoe
s) races, demonstrates the sport's growing force. Currently, Salvador has a national racing schedule with dozens of events, also receiving the Mini Transat 6.50
and Les Illes du Soleil races.
Rowing boat races started in the city more than a hundred years ago. It was originally practiced by young men from traditional families, who spent their summer
vacations there. The sport
is a leisure option in Cidade Baixa (the lower part of the city). Esporte Clube Vitória
and Clube São Salvador were the pioneers in the sport. Nowadays, these two entities and also Clube de Regatas Itapagipe lead the competitions that take place in the city. With the recent renovation of the Dique do Tororó area, Salvador received new lanes for the practice of the sport
.
are:
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and the capital of the Northeastern
Northeast Region, Brazil
The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
Brazilian state of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the city is one of the oldest in the country and in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. For a long time, it was simply known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century. Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the center of Afro-Brazilian
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
culture and this reflects in turn a curious situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical center of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries and has been declared a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 1985.
Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day
All Saints
All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...
forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
A particularly notable feature is the escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (278.9 ft) above the latter, with the city's cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
(the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda, has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades.
History
Baía de Todos os SantosBaía de Todos os Santos
Baía de Todos os Santos is the main and biggest bay of the state of Bahia, Brazil. Its name expanded to include a whole province, now known as the state of Bahia), where the city of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos was built...
(All Saints Bay) was first encountered by the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
and named in 1500. In 1501, one year after the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life are sketchy, it...
's fleet in Porto Seguro, Gaspar de Lemos
Gaspar de Lemos
Gaspar de Lemos , Portuguese explorer and captain of the supply ship of Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet that discovered Brazil. Sent back to Portugal with news of their discovery, he was credited by the Viscount of Santarém as having discovered the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean....
arrived at Todos os Santos Bay and sailed most of the Bahia coast. But the first European man to disembark on "Morro de São Paulo," Saint Paul's Mount, was Martim Afonso de Sousa, in 1531, leading an expedition to explore the coast of the new continent.
In 1510, a ship, containing the Portuguese settler named Caramuru
Caramuru
Diogo Álvares Correia , called Caramuru by the Tupinambá, was a Portuguese settler born in Viana do Castelo. He departed for Brazil in 1509, and his ship wrecked in the coast of Bahia, Diogo Álvares found himself among the Tupinamba Indians...
by the natives, wrecked near the borough of Rio Vermelho. In 1534, Francisco Pereira Coutinho founded a town near Barra borough, called Vila Velha, Portuguese for "Old Village."
In 1549, a fleet of Portuguese settlers
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
headed by Tomé de Sousa
Tomé de Sousa
Tomé de Sousa was the first governor-general of Brazil from 1549 to 1553, when it was a Portuguese colony. He was a nobleman and soldier born in Rates, Póvoa de Varzim...
, the first Governor-General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of Brazil, established Salvador. Built on a high cliff overlooking All Saints bay as the first colonial capital of colonial Brazil
Colonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
, it quickly became its main sea port and an important center of the sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
industry and the slave trade.
Salvador was divided into an upper and a lower city, the upper one being the administrative and religious area and where the majority of the population lived. The lower city was the financial center, with a port and market. In the late 19th Century, funicular
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
s and an elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
, the Elevador Lacerda, were built to link the two areas.
The city became the seat of the first Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Brazil in 1552, and is still a center of Brazilian Catholicism. By 1583, there were 1,600 people residing in the city, and it quickly grew into one of the largest cities in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, surpassing any colonial American city at the time of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in 1776.
Salvador was the capital city of the Portuguese viceroyalty of Grão-Pará
Grão-Pará
The vice-kingdom of Grão-Pará was one of the two Portuguese vice-kingdoms in South America, corresponding to today's North Brazil. Its capital city was Belém do Pará....
and its province of Baía de Todos os Santos
Baía de Todos os Santos
Baía de Todos os Santos is the main and biggest bay of the state of Bahia, Brazil. Its name expanded to include a whole province, now known as the state of Bahia), where the city of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos was built...
. The Dutch admiral Piet Hein
Piet Hein
Piet Hein is the name of:* Piet Pieterszoon Hein , Dutch naval commander and folk hero* Piet Hein , descendant of the above, Danish poet and scientist...
of the West Indian Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
captured and sacked the city in May of 1624, and held it along with other north east ports until it was retaken by a Spanish-Portuguese fleet
Recapture of Bahia
The recapture of Bahia was a joint Spanish-Portuguese military expedition in 1625 to retake the city of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil from the forces of the Dutch West India Company .In May 1624, Dutch WIC forces under Jacob Willekens captured Salvador Bahia from the Portuguese...
in May 1625. It then played a strategically vital role in the Portuguese-Brazilian resistance against the Dutch.
Salvador was the first capital of Brazil and remained so until 1763, when it was succeeded by Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. The city became a base for the Brazilian independence movement and was attacked by Portuguese troops in 1812, before being liberated on July 2, 1823. It settled into graceful decline over the next 150 years, out of the mainstream of Brazilian industrialization
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
. It remains, however, a nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al cultural and tourist center. By 1948 the city had some 340,000 people, and was already Brazil's fourth largest city. In 2010 was 2,480,790 people, the third largest population of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
In the 1990s, a major city project cleaned up and restored the old downtown area, the Pelourinho, or Centro Historico ("Historical Center
Historic Centre (Salvador, Bahia)
The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
"). Now, the Pelourinho is a cultural center, and the heart of Salvador's tourist trade. Nonetheless, this social prophylaxis resulted in the forced removal of thousands of working class residents to the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
's periphery where they have encountered significant economic hardship.
Additionally, the Historical Center is now something of a depopulated architectural jewel whose "animation" must be brought in and sponsored by local shopowners and the Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
n state. Similar situations may be found in many UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Sites today but the Pelourinho
Historic Centre (Salvador, Bahia)
The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
, in light of Salvador's economic inequalities and ruling governmental coalition's of the 1990s, seems to have gone farther than most in sacrificing its population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
to the needs of tourist-based preservation.
Climate
Salvador features a tropical rainforest climateTropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, is a tropical climate usually found along the equator...
with no discernable dry season. Temperatures are relatively constant throughout the course of the year, featuring warm and humid conditions. Salvador’s driest month of the year is February, where the city receives on average 11 cm of precipitation. Salvador’s wettest months are between May and July and 21 cm of rain falls during these 3 months.
Demographics
According to the 2010 IBGE Census, there were 2,480,790 people residing in the city of Salvador. The census revealed the following numbers: 1,382,543 Brown (Multiracial) people (51.7%), 743,718 BlackAfro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
people (27.8%), 505,645 White
White Brazilian
White Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
people (18.9%), 35,785 Asian
Asian Brazilian
An Asian Brazilian is is a Brazilian citizen of full or partial Asian ancestry, who remains culturally connected to Asia, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Brazil received many immigrants from Asia, both from Middle East and East Asia...
people (1.3%), 7,563 Amerindian
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
people (0.3%).
In 2010, the city of Salvador was the 3rd most populous city in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, after São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
In 2010, the city had 474,827 opposite-sex couples and 1,595 same-sex couples. The population of Salvador was 53.3% female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...
and 46.7% male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
.
Most of the population is in part descended from Black Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
n slaves, who were mainly Yoruba speakers
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
from Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
and Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
.
According to an autosomal DNA study, the ancestral heritage of the population of Salvador was estimated to be 49.20% African, 36.30% European
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and 14.50% Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
Population growth
Changing demographics of the city of SalvadorSource: Planet Barsa Ltda.
Religion
| Religion | Percentage | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic Catholic The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"... |
60.54% | 1,479,101 |
| No religion Atheism Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities... |
18.14% | 443,236 |
| Protestant | 13.29% | 324,785 |
| Spiritist Spiritism Spiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others... |
2.53% | 61,833 |
| Umbandist Umbanda Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with Catholicism, Spiritism and Kardecism, and considerable indigenous lore.... |
0.49% | 11,959 |
| Jewish Judaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
0.03% | 698 |
| Others | 4.35% | 106,320 |
Source: IBGE
IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics or IBGE , is the agency responsible for statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information in Brazil...
2000.
Economy
History of Brazil
The history of Brazil begins with the arrival of the first indigenous peoples, thousands of years ago by crossing the Bering land bridge into Alaska and then moving south....
Salvador has played an important role. In 1549 it became the first capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of Brazil. Throughout the colonial era
Colonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
Salvador was the colony's largest and most important city. Because of its strategic location
Location (geography)
The terms location and place in geography are used to identify a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term 'location' generally implies a higher degree of can certainty than "place" which often has an ambiguous boundary relying more on human/social attributes of place identity...
on Brazil's northeastern coast, the city served as an important link in the Portuguese empire
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
, maintaining close commercial ties with Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. Salvador remained the preeminent city in Brazil until 1763 when it was replaced as the national capital by Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. In the last ten years were constructed many high-rise office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
and apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
s share the same block with colonial-era housing or commercial buildings. With its beaches, humid tropical climate, numerous up-to-date shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s and pleasant middle-class residential areas, the city has much to offer its residents. Economically Salvador is one of Brazil's more important cities. Since its founding the city has been one of Brazil's most prominent port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s and international trading centers. Boasting a large oil refinery, a petrochemical plant and other important industries, the city has made great strides in reducing its historical dependence on agriculture
Agriculture in Brazil
Brazil is endowed with vast agricultural resources. There are two distinct agricultural areas. The first, composed of the southern one-half to two-thirds of the country, has a semitemperate climate and higher rainfall, the better soils, higher technology and input use, adequate infrastructure, and...
for its prosperity.
Salvador is the second most popular tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
destination in Brazil. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of job
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
s and income, boosting the art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
s and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage. Chief among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
that once stood there) district, its historic churches, and its beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es. Salvador's tourism infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
is considered one of the most modern in Brazil, especially in terms of lodging. The city offers accommodation to suit all tastes and standards, from youth hostels to international hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s. Construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
is one of the most important activities in the city, and many international (mainly from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) and national developers are investing in the city and in the Bahian littoral zone.
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari
Camaçari
Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador Metropolitan Region , being the industrial city of the metropolis. Several factories and petrochemical plants compose one of largest industrial capabilities in Brazil, the largest of the Northeast region of the...
, assembling the Ford EcoSport
Ford EcoSport
The Ford EcoSport is a mini SUV designed by the Ford-US Truck Vehicle Center and built in Brazil by Ford. The EcoSport is one of Ford's best-seller models in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico...
, Ford Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
, Ford Fiesta Sedan
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
. It was the first Automotive industry
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
in Northeastern Brazil. The industry employs 800 engineers.
JAC Motors will has a plant in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in the city of Camaçari
Camaçari
Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador Metropolitan Region , being the industrial city of the metropolis. Several factories and petrochemical plants compose one of largest industrial capabilities in Brazil, the largest of the Northeast region of the...
, the new industry will result 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, the production of 100,000 vehicles by year.
In December 2001, Monsanto Company inaugurated, at the Petrochemical Pole of Camaçari
Camaçari
Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador Metropolitan Region , being the industrial city of the metropolis. Several factories and petrochemical plants compose one of largest industrial capabilities in Brazil, the largest of the Northeast region of the...
, in Metropolitan Region of Salvador, the first plant of the company designed to produce raw materials for the herbicide
Herbicide
Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...
Roundup in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The investment is equivalent to US$ 500 millions; US$ 350 millions were spent in this initial phase. The Camaçari
Camaçari
Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador Metropolitan Region , being the industrial city of the metropolis. Several factories and petrochemical plants compose one of largest industrial capabilities in Brazil, the largest of the Northeast region of the...
Plant, the largest unit of Monsanto outside of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is also the only Monsanto plant manufacturing raw materials for the Roundup production line. The company started the civil works for the new plant in January 2000.
| Economy | GDP (in reais Brazilian real The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos .... ) |
GDP per capita (in reais Brazilian real The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos .... ) |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 16,929,310,000 | 6,541 |
| 2004 | 19,887,968,000 | 7,557 |
| 2005 | 22,145,303,000 | 8,283 |
| 2006 | 24,072,400,000 | 8,870 |
| 2010 | 29,668,442,000 | 11,959 |
Tourism and recreation
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. There are 50 km (31.1 mi) of beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es distributed between the High City and the Low City, from Inema, in the railroad suburb to the Praia do Flamengo, on the other side of town. While the Low City beaches are bordered by the waters of the All Saints Bay (the country's most extensive bay), the High City beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es, from Farol da Barra to Flamengo, are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The exception is Porto da Barra Beach
Porto da Barra Beach
Porto da Barra Beach is located in the city of Salvador, Brazil. It is located at the entrance of the Baía de Todos os Santos, with a small, white colonial fort at one end and a whitewashed church sitting up on a hill at the other....
, the only High City beach located in the All Saints Bay.
The big hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s tend to be strung out along the orla (Atlantic seafront). There are also smaller hotels in Barra and Porto da Barra, others (generally less expensive) scattered along the principal thoroughfare of Avenida Sete de Setembro (shortened to "Avenida Sete" by the locals), and still others (usually inexpensive) in and around Pelourinho.
There are also pousadas (guest houses, or bed and breakfasts) in Barra, Pelourinho, and Santo Antônio (and other places as well, to be sure), and hostels (albergues), which are for the most part located in Pelourinho (though a lot of the "pousadas" in Barra are hostels as well).
The capital's beaches range from calm inlets, ideal for swimming, sailing, diving and underwater fishing, as well as open sea inlets with strong waves, sought by surfers. There are also beaches surrounded by reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
s, forming natural pools of stone, ideal for children.
Interesting places to visit near Salvador include:
- According to the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
newspaper The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, in 2007, Porto da Barra BeachPorto da Barra BeachPorto da Barra Beach is located in the city of Salvador, Brazil. It is located at the entrance of the Baía de Todos os Santos, with a small, white colonial fort at one end and a whitewashed church sitting up on a hill at the other....
was the 3rd best in the world. - The large island of ItaparicaItaparicaItaparica is a Brazilian island in All Saint's Bay , about 10 km from the city of Salvador, Bahia. It is known for hosting the Sul America Open tennis competition. In the island, there are two cities: Itaparica and Vera Cruz....
in the Bay of All Saints can be visited either by a car-ferry, or a smaller foot-passenger ferry, which leaves from near the Mercado Modelo near the Lacerda Elevator. - BA-099BA-099The Rodovia Linha do Côco and Linha Verde, , is a state highway which runs through the northeastern part of the state of Bahia and southeastern region of the state of Sergipe in Brazil...
Highway, or "Line of Coconut" and "Green Line" of towns and cities, with exquisite beaches, north of Salvador heading towards SergipeSergipeSergipe , is the smallest state of the Brazilian Federation, located on the northeastern Atlantic coast of the country. It borders on two other states, Bahia to the south and west and Alagoas to the north, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean...
state. - Morro de São PauloMorro de São PauloMorro de São Paulo is one of 5 villages of the island Tinharé in Bahia, Brazil, 272 km from the city of Salvador by route and 60 km by sea...
in the Valença region across the Bay of All Saints – an island that can be reached by ferry from Salvador (1 hour), by plane, or by bus to Valença and then by 'Rapido' ('fast') speedboat or smaller ferry. Morro de São Paulo is formed by five villages of the Tinharé IslandIslandAn island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
.
The city is served by many shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s: Shopping Iguatemi, Salvador Shopping, Shopping Barra, and Shopping Paralela.
Salvador has four parks, green area
Area
Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
s protected, as Jardim dos Namorados Park, Costa Azul Park, Park of the City, Park of Pituaçu.
Jardim dos Namorados is located right next to Costa Azul Park and occupies an area of 15 hectares in Pituba, where many families used to spend their vacations in the 1950s. It was inaugurated in 1969, initially as a leisure area. It underwent a complete renovation in the 1990s, with the construction of an amphitheater with room for 500 people, sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s courts, playgrounds and parking
Parking
Parking is the act of stopping a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied for more than a brief time. Parking on one or both sides of a road is commonly permitted, though often with restrictions...
for cars and tourist bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es.
Costa Azul Park occupies an area of approximately 55,000 square meters, and is located in the neighborhood that goes by the same name.
Park of the City is an important preservation area of the Atlantic forest. It was completely renovated in 2001, becoming a modern social, cultural and leisure place. The new park has 720 square meter of green area right in the middle of the city. Among the attractions are Praça das Flores (Flowers square), with more than five thousand ornamental plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s and flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s. Besides its environment, the park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
has an infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
for children, with a special schedule of events taking place every October.
Created by state decree in 1973, Pituaçu Park occupies an area of 450 hectares and is one of the few Brazilian ecological parks located in an urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
. It is surrounded by Atlantic forest, with a good variety of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s. There is also an artificial pond in the park, built in 1906 along with the Pituaçu Dam, whose purpose was to supply water to the city. There are a number of possible leisure activities, ranging from cycloboats rides on the pond, to an 18 km (11.2 mi) long cycloway circling the entire reserve. Completing this infrastructure there are several options for children to play, snack bars, ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
parlors and restrooms. A museum is also located in the park. Espaço Cravo is an outdoor museum with 800 pieces created by Mario Cravo, comprising Totems, winged and three-dimensional figures, as well as drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s.
Education
There are international schools, such as the Pan American School of Bahia.There are more than 128 universities in whole state of Bahia.
Educational institutions
The city has several universitiesUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
:
- Universidade Federal da BahiaUniversidade Federal da BahiaThe Universidade Federal da Bahia is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. The largest university of the State of Bahia, and one of the most prestigious Brazilian universities.Students can study there without having to pay tuition fees, as it is a public university...
(UFBA) (Federal University of Bahia); - Universidade Católica do SalvadorUniversidade Católica do SalvadorThe Universidade Católica do Salvador is a private and non-profit Catholic university, located in Salvador, the first capital of Brazil, and third largest city. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Brazilian universities...
(UCSal) (Catholic University of Salvador); - Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB) (Bahia State University);
- Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS) (Salvador University);
- Faculdade de Tecnologia e Ciências (FTC) (College of Technology and Science);
- Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica da Bahia (Cefet-BA) (Federal Center of Technological Education of Bahia);
- Faculdade Ruy Barbosa (FRB) (Ruy Barbosa College);
- Faculdade Castro Alves (FCA) (Castro Alves College);
- Faculdade Jorge Amado (FJA) (Jorge Amado College);
- Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública (FBDC) (Bahiana College of Medicine and Public Health);
- and many others.
The city has several language schools of Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
for foreigners.
Primary and secondary schools
Top high schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s of the city are Pan American School of Bahia, Anglo-Brasileiro Academy, Federal Institute of Bahia (IFBA - Cefet), Military College of Salvador, Anchieta Academy, Oficina Academy, Salesiano Academy, Miró Academy, Marista School of Salvador, Antônio Vieira Academy, Módulo Academy, Sartre Academy, São Paulo Academy, Cândido Portinari Academy, Integral Academy, São José Academy, Alfred Nobel Academy (now owned of the Sartre Academy), Nossa Senhora da Conceição Academy, Santíssimo Sacramento Academy, Diplomata Academy, Nossa Senhora do Resgate Academy, Gregor Mendel Academy and Thales de Azevedo State High School.
Historic Centre
The Historic Centre of Salvador was designated in 1985 a World Heritage SiteWorld Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. The city represents a fine example the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
urbanism
Urbanism
Broadly, urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment.-Philosophy:...
from the middle of the 16th century with its higher administrative town and its lower commercial
Commercial district
A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is commercial activities , as opposed to a residential neighbourhood, an industrial zone, or other types of neighbourhoods...
town, and a large portion of the city has retained the old character of its streets and colourful houses.
As the first capital of Portuguese America, Salvador cultivated slave labor and had its "pelourinhos" pillories installed in open places like the terreiro de Jesus and the squares know today as Thomé de Souza and Castro Alves
Castro Alves
Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright, famous for his Abolitionist and Republican poems...
. The "pelourinho" was a symbol of authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
and justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, for some, and lashings and injustice for the majority. The one erected for a short time in what is now the Historical Center, and later moved to what is now the Praça da Piedade (Square of Piety), ended up lending its name to the historical and architectural complex of Pelourinho, part of the city's historical center
Historic Centre (Salvador, Bahia)
The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
.
Since 1992, the Pelourinho
Historic Centre (Salvador, Bahia)
The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
neighborhood has been subject to a nearly US$ 100 million "restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
" that has led to the rebuilding of hundreds of buildings' facades and the expulsion of the vast majority of the neighborhood's Afro-descendent population. This process has given rise to substantial political debate in the State of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, since the Pelourinho's former residents have been for the most part excluded from the renovation's economic benefits (reaped by a few). A major restoration effort resulted in making the area a highly desirable tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
.
Salvador's considerable wealth and status during colonial
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
s (as capital of the colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
during 250 years and which gave rise to the Pelourinho) is reflected in the magnificence of its colonial palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
s, churches and convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
s, most of them dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. These include:
- Cathedral of SalvadorCathedral of SalvadorThe Cathedral Basilica of Salvador , officially dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ and named Primatial Cathedral Basilica of the Transfiguration of the Lord is the seat of the Archbishop of the city of Salvador, in the State of Bahia, in Brazil...
: Former Jesuit church of the city, built in the second half of the 17th century. Fine example of Mannerist architecture and decoration.
- Convent and Church of São Francisco: Franciscan convent and church dating from the first half of the 18th century is another fine example of the Portuguese colonial architecture. The BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
decoration of the church is among the finest in Brazil.
- Church of Nosso Senhor do BonfimChurch of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Salvador)The Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is the most famous of the Catholic churches of Salvador, in the State of Bahia, Brazil. It was built in the 18th century on a hill in the Itapagipe peninsula, in the lower town of Salvador...
: RococoRococoRococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
church with NeoclassicalNeoclassical architectureNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
inner decoration. The image of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is the most venerated in the city, and the Feast of Our Lord of Good Ending (Festa de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim) in January is the most important in the city after CarnivalCarnivalCarnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
.
- Mercado ModeloHistoric Centre (Salvador, Bahia)The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
(Model Market): In 1861, at the Cayrú Square, the Customs Building was constructed, with a rotunda (large circular room with a domed ceiling) at the back end, where ships anchored to unload their merchandise. In 1971, a market began to operate in the Customs Building, and thirteen years later, it caught fire, burnBurnA burn is an injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction.Burn may also refer to:*Combustion*Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...
ed down, and underwent reform. Today, there are 200 stands with a variety of arts and crafts made in BahiaBahiaBahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
as well as other states in northeastern region of BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, two restaurantRestaurantA restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, and several barBar (establishment)A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s that serve typical drinkDrinkA drink, or beverage, is a liquid which is specifically prepared for human consumption. In addition to fulfilling a basic human need, beverages form part of the culture of human society.-Water:...
s and appetizers.
- Elevador LacerdaHistoric Centre (Salvador, Bahia)The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
(Lacerda Elevator): Inaugurated in 1873, this elevator was planned and built by the businessman Antônio Francisco de Lacerda, The four elevator cages connect the 72 metres (236.2 ft) between the Thomé de Souza Square in the upper city, and the Cayru Square in the lower city. In each run, which lasts for 22 seconds, the elevator transports 128 persons, 24 hours a day.
Culture
Salvador's historical and cultural aspects were inherited by the miscigenation of such ethnic groups as Native-Indian, African, and European. This mixture can be seen in the religionReligion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, golden cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
, cultural manifestations, and custom of Bahia's people.
Literature
As the capital of colonial BrazilColonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
until 1763, Salvador was an important cultural centre since the 16th century, as reflected in the large number of prominent literary figures associated with colonial Salvador, usually educated in the religious schools of the convents of the city and in the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Frei Vicente do Salvador (1564–1635), a Bahia-born Franciscan friar who studied in the Jesuit School of Salvador, was the author of the first book on Brazilian history written by a Brazil-born author.
Gregório de Mattos
Gregório de Mattos
Gregório de Mattos e Guerra was the most famous Colonial Brazilian Baroque poet. Although he wrote many lyrical and religious poems, he was more well-known by his satirical ones, winning because of them the nickname "Boca do Inferno" .He is the patron of the 16th chair of the Brazilian Academy of...
, born in Salvador in 1636, was also educated by the Jesuits. He became the most important Baroque poet in colonial Brazil for his religious and satirical works. Father António Vieira was born in Lisbon in 1608, but was raised and educated in the Jesuit school of Salvador and died in the city in 1697. His erudite sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s have earned him the title of best writer of the Portuguese language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
in the Baroque era.
After the Independence of Brazil (1822), Salvador continued to play an important role in Brazilian literature. Significant 19th century writers associated with the city include Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
poet Castro Alves
Castro Alves
Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright, famous for his Abolitionist and Republican poems...
(1847–1871) and diplomat Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa
Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira was a Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician.Born in Salvador da Bahia, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat. For his distinguished participation in the Hague Peace Conference of 1907, he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague"...
(1849–1923). In the 20th century, Bahia-born Jorge Amado
Jorge Amado
Jorge Leal Amado de Faria was a Brazilian writer of the Modernist school. He was the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in film, notably Dona Flor and her Two Husbands in 1978...
(1912–2001), although not born in Salvador, helped popularize the culture of the city around the world in novels such as Jubiabá
Jubiabá
Jubiabá is a Brazilian modernist novel written by Jorge Amado in 1935. It was the basis for the 1986 motion picture of the same name, written and directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos....
, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos
Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos
Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos is a Brazilian novel, written by Jorge Amado in 1966.Amado's tale is of a woman's unlikely path to happiness. It is a vast panorama of life in the town of Salvador, Bahia, with dozens of characters.The novel has been adapted into a 1976 film....
, and Tenda dos Milagres, the settings of which are in Salvador.
Religion
In Salvador, religion is a major contact point between Portuguese and African influences and, in the last 20 years, Brazil's version of a North American-influenced Pentecostalism. Salvador was the seat of the first bishopricDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in colonial Brazil (established 1551), and the first bishop, Pero Fernandes Sardinha, arrived already in 1552. The Jesuits, led by the Manuel da Nóbrega
Manuel da Nóbrega
Manuel da Nóbrega was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and first Provincial of the Society of Jesus in colonial Brazil...
, also arrived in the 16th century and worked in converting the Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
of the region to Roman Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
. Subsequently to them are created the Third Orders, the Brotherhoods, and Fraternities, which were composed mainly of professional and social groups. The most prominent of these orders were the Terceira do Carmo Order and the de São Francisco Order, founded by white men, and the Nossa Senhora do Rosário and São Beneditino Brotherhoods, composed of black men. In many churches maintained by religious men, were housed the Santíssimo Sacramento brotherhoods.
Besides these organizations, the expansion of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
in the city was consolidated through social care work. Santa Casa the Misericórdia was one of the institution that did this kind of work, maintaining hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, shelters for the poor and the elderly, as well providing assistance to convicts and to those who would face death penalties. The convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
s, on their part, were cultural and religious formation centers, offering seminar coursed that often were attended by the lay.
Even with the present evolution, and the growth of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
and other religions in the city, the Catholic faith remains as one of its most distinctive features, drawing a lot of people to its hundreds of churches. Some aspects, like the use of Portuguese in the Masses, the simplification of the liturgy, and the adoption of "pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
" religious song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s are key factors to the triumph of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. In the Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos Church, Masses are held in the Yorubá language, making use of African chants and typical clothes, which attract many people from the African Brazilian communities.
Most enslaved Africans in Bahia were brought from Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
, especially the Yoruba-speaking
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
nation (Iorubá or Nagô in Portuguese) from present-day Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. The enslaved were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism, but their original religion, Candomblé
Candomblé
Candomblé is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practised chiefly in Brazil by the "povo de santo" . It originated in the cities of Salvador, the capital of Bahia and Cachoeira, at the time one of the main commercial crossroads for the distribution of products and slave trade to...
, has survived in spite of prohibitions and persecutions. The enslaved Africans managed to preserve their religion by attributing the names and characteristics of their Candomblé deities to Catholic saints with similar qualities.
Hence, as former pagan Christians once associated Pagan deities with the saints, enslaved Africans in Bahia transformed their faiths into a syncretic form of religion that still attempts to please both their own roots and the faith imposed by their masters and those caught in between both traditions. Thus, up to today, even nominal Catholics take part in Candomblé rituals in the terreiros or "centros". Candomblé is based on the cult of the Orisha
Orisha
An Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system....
s (Orixás), like Obatala
Obatala
In the religion of the Yoruba people, Obàtálá is the creator of human bodies, which were supposedly brought to life by Olorun's breath.Obàtálá is also the owner of all ori or heads. Any orisha may lay claim to an individual, but until that individual is initiated into the priesthood of that orisha,...
(Oxalá), father of humankind; Ogoun
Ogoun
In the Yoruba and Haitian traditional belief system, Ogun is a orisha and loa who presides over iron, hunting, politics and war. He is the patron of smiths, and is usually displayed with a number of attributes: a machete or sabre, rum and tobacco...
(Ogum), god of the war and iron; Yemanja (Iemanjá), goddess of the sea, rivers and lakes.
These religious entities have been syncretised with some Catholic entities. For instance, Salvador's Feast of Bonfim
Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Salvador)
The Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is the most famous of the Catholic churches of Salvador, in the State of Bahia, Brazil. It was built in the 18th century on a hill in the Itapagipe peninsula, in the lower town of Salvador...
, celebrated in January, is dedicated to both Our Lord of Bonfim (Jesus Christ) and Oxalá. Another important feast is the Feast de Yemanja every February 2, on the shores of the borough of Rio Vermelho in Salvador, on the day the church celebrates Our Lady of the Navigators. December 8, Immaculate Conception Day for Catholics, is also commonly dedicated to Yemanja' with votive offerings made in the sea throughout the Brazilian coast.
Religious syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
is defined as the combination of two or more creeds. In Brazil, especially in Bahia, it came up as a solution for the slaves who were prohibited from practicing their religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, so they pretended to be worshiping catholic saints while in reality they were venerating their own deities. Hence, associating an orixá (Candoblé deity) to a catholic was a strategy used by black people to maintain their beliefs and ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s alive, while they fooled their masters, making them believe that their devotion was to the catholic saints.
The lives of catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
saints and their own physical features, portrayed on sculptures and drawings, made the identification with the orixás easier. Salvador is a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
where different ethnic and cultural aspects are mixed up, but religious syncretism remains as one of its most intriguing features. Its ancient churches are a proof of the power of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, which was brought by the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
and forced upon Blacks
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
and Indigenous
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
.
Cuisine
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
, an oil extracted from a palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) brought from West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
to Brazil during colonial times.
Using the milky coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
juice
Juice
Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...
, they prepared a variety of seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
based dishes, such as Ensopados, Moquecas and Escabeche. The sugar cane bagasse was mixed with molasses and Rapadura, in the creation of coconut desserts like Cocada Branca and Preta. The remaining of the Portuguese Stew sauce was mixed with manioc flour to make a mush, which is a traditional Indian dish. In the markets of Salvador, it is possible to find stands selling typical dishes of the colonial era. In the Sete Portas Market, customers eat Mocotó on Friday nights since the 1940s, when the market was inaugurated. In the restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s of Mercado Modelo (Model Market), Sarapatel, stews and several fried dishes are served regularly. In the São Joaquim, Santa Bárbara and São Miguel markets, there are stands selling typical food. They are also sold at stands located on the beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es, specially crab stews and oysters. The restaurants that sell typical dishes are located mostly along the coast and in Pelourinho. They prepare a wide variety of recipes that take palm tree oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
.
Traditional dishes include caruru, vatapá
Vatapá
Vatapá is a Brazilian dish made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, finely ground peanuts and palm oil mashed into a creamy paste. This food is very popular in the North and Northeast, but it is more typical in the northeastern state of Bahia where it is commonly eaten with acarajé, although Vatapá...
, acarajé
Acarajé
Acarajé is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in dendê . It is found in Nigerian and Brazilian cuisine...
, bobó-de-camarão, moqueca
Moqueca
Moqueca is a traditional Brazilian seafood stew. Brazilians have been making Moquecas for 300 years.It basically consists of fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, and additional ingredients...
baiana, and abará. Some of these dishes, like the acarajé and abará, are also used as offerings in Candomblé
Candomblé
Candomblé is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practised chiefly in Brazil by the "povo de santo" . It originated in the cities of Salvador, the capital of Bahia and Cachoeira, at the time one of the main commercial crossroads for the distribution of products and slave trade to...
rituals. An acarajé is basically a deep-fried "bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
" made from mashed beans from which the skins have been removed (reputedly feijão fradinho "black-eyed peas" but in reality almost always the less expensive brown beans so ubiquitous in Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
). But Salvador is not only typical food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
. Other recipes created by the slaves were the Haussá Rice (rice and jerked beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
cooked together), the Munguzá, used as offering to the Candomblé deity Oxalá (who is the father of all deities, according to the religion) pleased the matrons very much. So did the Bolinhos the Fubá, the Cuscuz (cornmeal) and the Mingau (porridge). According to Arany Santana, the Ipetê (used in the ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s to the deity Oxum) became the Shrimp Bobó (a kind of mush), and the Akará (honoring the deities Xangô and Iansã) became the world-famous Acarajé. Who comes here also has a large number of restaurants specialized on international
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
cuisine. There also places that serve dishes from other states of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, especially from Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
and the Northeast region.
Capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
is a unique mix of dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and martial art of Afro-Brazilian origin, combining agile dance moves with unarmed combat techniques. Capoeira in Portuguese literally means "chicken coop." The presence of capoeira in Brazil is directly connected to the importation of African slaves by the Portuguese, and Salvador is considered the centre of origin of the modern capoeira branches.
. In the first half of the 20th century, Salvador-born masters Mestre Bimba
Mestre Bimba
Manuel dos Reis Machado, commonly called Mestre Bimba , was a mestre of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira.-Early life:Machado is said to have had two birth certificates, dated 1899 and 1900, respectively...
and Mestre Pastinha
Mestre Pastinha
Vicente Joaquim Ferreira Pastinha was a mestre of the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira.- Formative Years :...
founded capoeira schools and helped standartise and popularise the art in Brazil and the world. The practice of Capoeira was banned in 1892, though in 1937 it was made legal. In recent years, Capoeira has become more international and accessible even in Salvador, with classes available in English by Brooklyn-born Monitor Feijao of Capoeira Brasil Bahia.
Museums
Even so, the importance of Salvador's museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s has drawn the interest of experts from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and abroad. There we can find valuable pieces of religious art, ornamental items from the old manors and also objects that belonged to the old families and public figures of the state. The Arte Sacra and Abelardo Rodrigues museums are must, see programs. They both have the biggest sacra art collection in the country. Another obligatory tour is to Museu de Arte da Bahia.
Museu de Arte da Bahia has paintings, Chinese porcelain, furniture and sacra images from the 17th and 18th centuries. Museu Costa Pinto has private, owned items such as, pieces of art, crystal objects, furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, tapestry, sacra pieces and Chinese porcelain. The golden jewelry and the 27 ornamental silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
buckles are the most precious in the entire collection.
Another important museum is Museu da Cidade, where many items that help to preserve the heritage of old Salvador are kept. There we can find thematic objects that belonged to public personalities in the state like dolls, orixá statues and religious images. There is also an art gallery located inside of the museums. There is also Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado, with pictures, objects and the life's stories of the author of memorable novels that portray old Bahia like, Gabriela – Cravo e Canela, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos, O País do Carnaval and Tieta do Agreste.
Some churches and monasteries also have museums located in their premises. Examples of this are the Carmo da Misericórdia and São Bento Museums. After the renovation of the Forts, were created Museu Náutico, in Forte de Santo Antonio da Barra (Farol da Barra) and Museu da Comunicação, in Forte São Diogo. Other important museums that are scattered through Salvador are: Museu do Cacau, Museu geológico do Estado, Museu tempostal, Solar do Ferrão, Museu de Arte Antiga e Popular Henriqueta M Catharino, Museu Eugênio Teixeira Leal and Museu das Portas do Carmo.
Carnival/Carnaval
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
or Carnaval of Salvador da Bahia is the biggest street party on the planet. For an entire week, almost 2 million people celebrate throughout 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) of streets, avenues and squares. The direct organization of the party involves the participation of 100 thousand people. Its dimensions are gigantic. Salvador receives an average of 800 thousand visitors.
The cover was done by 2,446 professionals in local press, national, and international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
. The carnival was broadcast to 135 countries through 65 radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s, 75 magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, 139 producers of video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, 97 newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s (21 international), 14 tv stations, and 168 website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s.
Rei Momo: The King of Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
, Momo, is handed the keys to the city in the morning
Morning
The word morning originally referred to the sunrise. Morning precedes midday, afternoon, and night in the sequence of a day.Morning is the part of the day usually reckoned from dawn to noon...
, on the Thursday before Fat Tuesday, and the party officially begins. Camarotes: These grandstands line the street in the neighborhood of Campo Grande. Watch the show from here without being trampled by the crowd. Trios Eléctricos: Outfitted with deafening sound systems, these 60-foot-long trucks carry a kick line of gyrating, scantily clad dancers along with the city's best-loved performers, among them Ivete Sangalo
Ivete Sangalo
Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian Axé and MPB singer, songwriter, and occasional actress and television show host...
, Daniela Mercury
Daniela Mercury
Daniela Mercury , is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian axé, samba-reggae and MPB singer, songwriter and record producer. Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 20 million albums worldwide...
, Cláudia Leitte
Cláudia Leitte
Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio, known as Claudia Leitte is a Brazilian axé singer, and former vocalist of the group Babado Novo. Since she is one of the most popular axé singers in Brazil, she hosted MTV Brasil's Video Music Brasil 2007, in which she had been nominated as best singer in that award...
, Chiclete com Banana
Chiclete com Banana
Chiclete com Banana is an Axé music band, currently consisting of Bell Marques, Wadinho Marques, Rey, Waltinho Cruz, Deny and Lelo. The group is named after the song "Chiclete com Banana," written by Gordurinha...
, Carlinhos Brown
Carlinhos Brown
Carlinhos Brown is a Brazilian musician from Salvador, Bahia. He was born in Candeal Pequeno, a small neighbourhood in the Brotas area of Salvador de Bahia...
, and others.
The music played during Carnaval includes Axé
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
and Samba-reggae. Many "blocos" participate in Carnaval, the "blocos afros" like Malé Debalé, Olodum and Filhos de Gandhi being the most famous of them. Carnival is heavily policed. Stands with five or six seated police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officers are erected everywhere and the street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
s are constantly patrolled by police groups moving in single file.
The Osmar Circuit: goes from Campo Grande to Castro Alves
Castro Alves
Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright, famous for his Abolitionist and Republican poems...
square, The Downtown Circuit, in Downtown and Pelourinho
Historic Centre (Salvador, Bahia)
The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
, and The Dodô Circuit; goes from Farol da Barra
Barra (neighborhood)
Barra is a neighborhood located in the southern zone of Salvador. The Barra is one of the most traditional neighborhoods of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, belonging to Administrative Region VI, of the same name. It has a unique geographical location in the world, where you can see both the birth...
to Ondina, along the coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
. The Osmar circuit is the oldest circuit. It is also where the event's most traditional groups parades. In Dodô, where the artist box seats are located, the party becomes lively toward the end of the afternoon
Afternoon
Afternoon is the time of day from noon to about 18:00.The term should not be confused with "after noon" , which is a translation of the Latin "post meridiem" as used in the 12-hour clock, meaning a time of day from noon to midnight.In Australia and New Zealand, the word "arvo" is a slang term for...
and it continues until morning
Morning
The word morning originally referred to the sunrise. Morning precedes midday, afternoon, and night in the sequence of a day.Morning is the part of the day usually reckoned from dawn to noon...
.
The three Carnival Circuits are:
- The Campo Grande - Praça Castro Alves Circuit, also called the "Osmar" Circuit, or simply the "Avenidas" ("Avenues");
- The BarraBarra (neighborhood)Barra is a neighborhood located in the southern zone of Salvador. The Barra is one of the most traditional neighborhoods of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, belonging to Administrative Region VI, of the same name. It has a unique geographical location in the world, where you can see both the birth...
- Ondina Circuit, also called the "Dodô" Circuit; - The PelourinhoHistoric Centre (Salvador, Bahia)The Historic Centre is a historic neighborhood located in the western zone of Salvador, Bahia...
Circuit, also called the "Batatinha" ("Little potato") Circuit.
Summer Festival
The Salvador Summer Festival, is an annual five-day music extravaganza that this year is to feature its usual who's who of Brazilian popular musicPopular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
: Daniela Mercury, Eva, Capital Inicial, Titãs, Skank, Jota Quest, Ivete Sangalo, Chiclete com Banana, Ana Carolina, and others. The price of admission has yet to be set. Attractions international as Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
, Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
, Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
, Eagle-Eye Cherry
Eagle-Eye Cherry
Eagle-Eye Lanoo Cherry is a Swedish musician of African-American descent.-Life and career:Cherry was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of African American jazz artist Don Cherry and Swedish painter/textile artist Monika "Moki" Cherry . He is half-brother of singer Neneh Cherry, his mother's...
, Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
, Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...
, Manu Chao
Manu Chao
Manu Chao , is a French singer of Spanish roots . He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Galician, Arabic and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages...
, Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, The Gladiators and Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
already sang in Summer Festival.
Funk and Bahia Funk Dances
Funk has become a musical genre in Brazil that exemplifies how many influences, in and out of Brazil, merged with Brazilian culture in the 20th century to form a new hybrid sound. FunkFunk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
originated as a black American form of music that started in the 1960s and included artists like James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
.
Although funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
was embraced by many parts of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, its sound would eventually become localized so the music would differ from city to city. This difference can be viewed with the funk scenes in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The music and the environment are all representative of the city where one listens to funk music.
For instance, the music played in Salvador at a Black Bahia Funk Ball is more American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
than its counterpart in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. Music material from Rio, which sells reasonably well around Rio, is poorly known in Salvador and, in any case, held to be inferior and "less modern" than funk sung in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Another difference can be seen with the funk dancehalls. The Ball incorporates the entire setting, which entails the attire, the slang, the specific way of dancing break, the decoration, the organization of permanent dance groups.
Libraries
The first bookBook
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s that arrived in Salvador, were brought by the Jesuits, who came with Tomé de Souza. The first libraries or bookstores that appeared were under the control of the religious missionaries and were mostly composed of books on religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. Areas combining leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, Salvador's libraries are an entertainment option for tourists and researchers. Some of these spaces have religious origins, some of them are temples of knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
accessible only to a few, due to the fragility of the relics they contain.
The Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
, Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
, Franciscans and Capuchin
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
orders have in Salvador, titles related to fundamental aspects of the state's history, being important for a comprehensive view of the political, religious, moral and artistic formation of the city. Conversely to the restrictive religious libraries, the public libraries and the ones linked to institutions that give incentive to culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
, provide the general public with a variety of titles.
Handcraft
The handcraft legacy of Bahia using only raw materials (strawStraw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
, leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, seashell
Seashell
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers...
s and bead
Bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is usually pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under to over in diameter. A pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells, approximately 100,000 years old, are thought to be the earliest known examples of jewellery. Beadwork...
s), the most rudimentary crafts are reasonably inexpensive. Other pieces are created with the use of metals like gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
. The most sophisticated ones are ornamented with precious and semi-precious gems. The craftsmen and women generally choose religion as the main theme of their work.
They portray the images of Catholic saints and Candomble deities on their pieces. The good luck charms such as the clenched fist, the four-leaf clover, the garlic and the famous Bonfim ribbons express the city's religious syncretism. Nature is also portrayed on these pieces, reflecting the local wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
. Music appears in the atabaque drums, the rain sticks, the water drums and the famous berimbau, along with other typical instruments.
Salvador holds an international reputation as a city where musical instruments that produce unique sounds are made. These instruments are frequently used by world-famous artists in their recording sessions. A place to see Salvador's handcrafts production is Mercado Modelo, which is the biggest handcraft center in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. Pieces can also be purchased at Instituto de Artesanato de Mauá and at Instituto do Patrimônio Artístico e Cultural (IPAC). These are organizations that promote typical art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
in Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
International Airport
Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport
Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport , formerly called Dois de Julho International Airport is the airport serving Salvador da Bahia, Brazil...
is located in an area of more than 6 million square meters between sand dunes and native vegetation. The airport lies 20 km (12.4 mi) north of Downtown Salvador and the road to the airport has already become one of the city's main scenic attractions. In 2011, the airport handled 6,948,020 passengers and 114,946 aircraft movements, placing it 7th busiest airport in Brazil in terms of passengers. The airport's use has been growing at an average of 14% a year and now is responsible for more than 30% of passenger movement in Northeastern Brazil.
Port
With cargo volume that grows year after year following the same economic development rhythm implemented in the State, the Port of SalvadorPort of Salvador
The Port of Salvador is a seaport located in All Saints Bay in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. It is connected to Downtown Salvador by Historic Center. The port is located in Lower City region of Salvador. Lying at the tip of a peninsula separating Todos os Santos Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.CODEBA was...
, located in the Bahia de Todos os Santos, holds status as the port with the highest movement of containers of the North
North Region, Brazil
The North Region of Brazil is the largest Region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population...
/Northeast
Northeast Region, Brazil
The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
and the second-leading fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
exporter in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The port's facilities operate from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM.
The ability to handle high shipping volume has positioned the port of Salvador for new investments in technological modernization, and the port is noted for implementing a high level of operational flexibility and competitive rates. The goal of port officials is to offer the necessary infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
for the movement of goods, while simultaneously meeting the needs of international importers and exporters.
Metro
Salvador Metro SystemRapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
is under construction, and its 1st phase will be ready in March 2008, between Lapa and Acceso Norte Station
Metro station
A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....
s, and in 2009 will be ready the stations between Acceso Norte and Pirajá. In 2009 it will have 12.5 km (7.8 mi) and 8 stations and will have link with the bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
.
The main shareholders in Metro Salvador are the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
companies Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a rail equipment manufacturer based in Beasain in the Basque Country, Spain. Equipment manufactured by CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any...
, Dimetronic, and ICF
ICF
ICF is an acronym with several meanings:* Immunodeficiency, centromere instability and facial anomalies syndrome.* Insulating concrete form, building construction systems that use concrete in a permanent form made of a rigid insulation....
. It is expected that Metro Salvador will invest US$ 150 million in rolling stock and signalling and telecommunications equipment. The contract covers the first 11.9 km (7.4 mi) line from Pirajá to Lapa, which is due to open in 2003. The project is also financed by a US$ 150 million World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
loan and contributions from the federal, Bahia state, and Salvador city government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s.
Salvador Metro system is one of the actions of urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
mobility
Mobility
Mobility may refer to:* Mobility * "Mobiliy" , a song by Moby* Mobility * Mobility , the ability of military units or weapon systems to move to an objective-See also:* Academic mobility* Apprentices mobility...
that will be deployed until the 2014 FIFA World Cup
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014....
. The connection of Line 2 with Line 1 of Salvador Metro contributes to connect the International Airport to Downtown Salvador and the Fonte Nova Stadium. The new Line 2 of Salvador Metro integrates the metro stations of the Rótula do Abacaxi and the beach city of Lauro de Freitas
Lauro de Freitas
Lauro de Freitas is a municipality of 59 km² in the north-east of the state of Bahia, Brasil located at 12° 53' 38" South 38° 19' 37" West.In Lauro de Freitas is located Vilas do Atlântico, a wealthy neighborhood....
in the metropolitan area, passing through the Salvador International Airport, with the Airport metro station
Metro station
A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....
.
Highways
BR-101
The BR-101 is a longitudinal highway of Brazil. It is the longest in the country with a length of nearly , and it is also considered the most important....
and BR-116 federal highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
s cross Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
from north to south, connecting Salvador to the rest of the country. At the Feira de Santana
Feira de Santana
Feira de Santana is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is the second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 700,000 according to IBGE's estimate. It is located 115 km northwest of Salvador, Bahia's capital city. These cities are connected by BR-324, a four-lane divided highway...
junction, take the BR-324 state highway. The capital of Bahia is served by several coach companies from almost every Brazilian state. BR-242, starting at São Roque do Paraguaçu (transversal direction), is linked to BR-116, bound to the middle–west region. Among the state highways stands BA-099, which makes connection to the north coast and BA-001, which makes connection to the south of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
. Bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es provide direct service to most major Brazilian cities, including Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, and Brasília
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, as well as regional destinations. In 2007, the city had 586,951 vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s, the largest number of the Northern and Northeastern Brazil.
Four paved highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
s connect the city to the national highway system. Running north from the Farol (lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
) de Itapoã are hundreds of miles of wonderful beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es. These beaches are accessible via the BA-099
BA-099
The Rodovia Linha do Côco and Linha Verde, , is a state highway which runs through the northeastern part of the state of Bahia and southeastern region of the state of Sergipe in Brazil...
Highway or (Line of Coconut and Green Line), a (toll) road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
, kept in excellent condition, running parallel to the coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
, with access roads leading off to the coast itself. The road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
runs along dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s of snow-white sand, and the coast itself is an almost unbroken line of coconut palms. The communities along this coast range from fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s to Praia do Forte
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
.
Neighborhoods
Although the creation of Salvador was masterminded by the Kingdom of PortugalKingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
and its project conducted by the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
Luís Dias (who was responsible for the city's original design), the continuous growth of the capital through the decades was completely spontaneous. The walls of the city-fortress could not hold the expansion of the city, towards the Carmo and the area where now stands Castro Alves
Castro Alves
Antônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright, famous for his Abolitionist and Republican poems...
Square. At the time of its foundation, Salvador had only two squares and the first neighborhood ever built here was the Historic City Center. Pelourinho and Carmo came subsequently, created as a consequence of the growing need of space that the religious
Religion in Brazil
Religion in Brazil has a higher adherence level compared to other Latin American countries, and is more diverse.In 1891, when the first Brazilian Republican Constitution was set forth, Brazil ceased to have an official religion. The present Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of religion...
orders had. With the rapid expansion, the neighborhoods grew and many of them were clustered in the same area, so today there are not accurate records as to their exact number. For urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
management purposes, the city is currently divided on 17 political-administrative zones. However, due to their very cultural
Culture of Brazil
The culture of Brazil presents a very diverse nature reflecting an ethnic and cultural mixing occurred in the colonial period involving mostly Native Americans, Portuguese and Africans...
relevance and to postal conveniences, the importance of the neighborhoods of Salvador remains intact. They represent the city's lively atmosphere and its cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
character.
Barra (neighborhood)
Barra is a neighborhood located in the southern zone of Salvador. The Barra is one of the most traditional neighborhoods of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, belonging to Administrative Region VI, of the same name. It has a unique geographical location in the world, where you can see both the birth...
, with its Farol da Barra, beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es and which is where one of the Carnival circuits begins, Barra is home of the Portuguese Hospital and Spanish Hospital, the neighborhood is located in South Zone. Vitória, a neighborhood with many high rise buildings, is located in South Zone.
Campo Grande, with its Dois de Julho Square and the monument to Bahia's independence, is also located in South Zone, as is Graça
Graça (neighborhood)
Graça is a neighborhood located in the southern zone of Salvador, Bahia....
, an important residential area.
Ondina, with Salvador's Zoobotanical Garden
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
and the site where the Barra-Ondina Carnival circuit ends, the neighborhood is home of the Spanish Club, is also a neighborhood in the South Zone.
Itaigara, Pituba, Horto Florestal, Caminho das Árvores, Loteamento Aquárius, Brotas, Stiep, Costa Azul, Armação, Jaguaribe and Stella Maris are the wealthiest neighborhoods in the East Zone and the city. Rio Vermelho, a neighborhood with a rich architectural history and numerous restaurants and bars, is located in the South Zone. Itapoã, known throughout Brazil as the home of Vinicius de Moraes
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
and for being the setting of the song "Tarde em Itapoã", is located in East Zone.
The Northwest area of the city in along the Bay of All Saints, also known as Cidade Baixa ("Lower city"), contains the impoverished suburban neighborhoods of Periperi
Periperi
Periperi is a subdistrict north of Salvador, in the Brazilian State of Bahia.-Culture:For some, Periperi is viewed as the cultural core of the many suburbs surrounding Salvador. It is home to one of the largest venues in the Salvador area, the Sport Club of Periperi...
, Paripe, Lobato, Liberdade, Nova Esperança, and Calçada. The neighborhood of Liberdade
Liberdade (neighbourhood)
Liberdade is the second most populous district of Salvador, capital of the state Brazilian from Bahia.-Features:...
(Liberty) has the largest proportion of Afro-Brazilian
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
s of Salvador and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Sports
Salvador provides visitors and residents with various sport activities. The Fonte Nova Stadium, also known as Estádio Octávio Mangabeira is a footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
stadium inaugurated on January 28, 1951 in Salvador, Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, with a maximum capacity of 66,080 people. The stadium is owned by the Bahia government, and is the home ground of Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia , known familiarly as Bahiaço, is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Salvador, Bahia. They play in the Campeonato Baiano, Bahia's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Brazil's national league. Bahia was a founding member of the Clube dos 13 group...
. Its formal name honors Octávio Cavalcanti Mangabeira, a civil engineer, journalist, and former Bahia state governor from 1947 to 1954. The stadium is nicknamed Fonte Nova, because it is located at Ladeira das Fontes das Pedras. The stadium was in 2007 closed due to an accident, and the E.C. Bahia home matches now happen in another stadium, in Pituaçu.
Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia , known familiarly as Bahiaço, is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Salvador, Bahia. They play in the Campeonato Baiano, Bahia's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Brazil's national league. Bahia was a founding member of the Clube dos 13 group...
and Esporte Clube Vitória
Esporte Clube Vitória
Esporte Clube Vitória, usually known simply as Vitória, is a Brazilian football team from Salvador in Bahia, founded on May 13, 1899.Vitória's home games are played at the club's own stadium . They play in red and black horizontal striped shirts, black shorts and black socks...
are Salvador's main football teams. Bahia has won 2 national titles, Brazil Trophy
Taça Brasil
The Taça Brasil was a Brazilian national football competition which was contested from 1959 to 1968. It is considered by many historians the most important football tournament in Brazil at the time and is compared, in importance level, to the current Campeonato Brasileiro.Bahia, Cruzeiro and...
in 1959 and the Brazilian League in 1988, while Vitória was a runner up in the Brazilian league in 1993 and Brazil Cup
Copa do Brasil
The Copa Kia do Brasil, commonly known as Copa do Brasil , is a knockout competition played by 64 association football teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District...
in 2010.
Salvador has two large green areas for the practice of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. Cajazeiras Golf and Country Club has a 18-hole course, instructors, caddies and equipment for rent. Itapuã Golf club, located in the area of the Sofitel Hotel, has a 9-hole course, equipment store, caddies and clubs for rent. Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
is very popular among Salvador's elites, with a great number of players and tournaments in the city's private clubs. Brasil Open, the country’s most important tournament happens every year in Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
During the last decades, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
has grown steadily in Salvador, especially after the gold medal won by Brazil in the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona. The most important tournaments in Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
are the State Championship, the State League tournament and the Primavera Games, and the main teams are Associação Atlética da Bahia, Bahiano de Tênis, and Clube the Regatas Itapagipe. There are also beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
events. Salvador has housed many international tournaments. Federação Bahina de Voleibol (the state league) can inform the schedule of tournaments. Bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
is practiced both by teenagers and adult
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
s in Salvador. Boliche do Aeroclube and Space Bowling are equipped with automatic lanes as well as a complete bar infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
.
Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
league exists since 1993 and has 57 team
Team
A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
s. The sport is very popular in the city of Salvador, especially among student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s. There are several courts scattered across the city, where is possible to play for free, like the one located at Bahia Sol square, where people play. There are also several gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasiums, in club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
s like Bahiano de Tênis and Associação Atlética and the Antonio Balbino Gymnasiums (popularly known as "Balbininho"), which is an arena that can hold up to 7,000 people.
Todos os Santos Bay and Salvador's climatic conditions are ideal for competition and recreational sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
. The city is equipped with good infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
for practice of sailing, such as rental and sale of dock space, boat maintenance, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, snack bar, convenience stores, nautical products stores, boat rental agencies, VHF and SSB communication systems, events, and total assistance to crews. The large number of sailing events organized by club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
s and syndicate
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
s, like oceanic races and typical boats (wooden fishing boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s and canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s) races, demonstrates the sport's growing force. Currently, Salvador has a national racing schedule with dozens of events, also receiving the Mini Transat 6.50
Mini Transat 6.50
Mini Transat 6.50 also known as Transat 650 is a solo transatlantic yacht race that starts in France and ends in Brasil covering over 4000 miles with a stop in the Madeira or the Canary Islands. The yachts are very small with respect to the race, and are sanctioned by the organization...
and Les Illes du Soleil races.
Rowing boat races started in the city more than a hundred years ago. It was originally practiced by young men from traditional families, who spent their summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
vacations there. The sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
is a leisure option in Cidade Baixa (the lower part of the city). Esporte Clube Vitória
Esporte Clube Vitória
Esporte Clube Vitória, usually known simply as Vitória, is a Brazilian football team from Salvador in Bahia, founded on May 13, 1899.Vitória's home games are played at the club's own stadium . They play in red and black horizontal striped shirts, black shorts and black socks...
and Clube São Salvador were the pioneers in the sport. Nowadays, these two entities and also Clube de Regatas Itapagipe lead the competitions that take place in the city. With the recent renovation of the Dique do Tororó area, Salvador received new lanes for the practice of the sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
.
Notable residents
- Acelino FreitasAcelino FreitasAcelino "Popó" Freitas is a Brazilian boxer and a former world junior lightweight and lightweight champion. Freitas is also a state legislator for the state of Bahia . His style of fighting in the ring has garnered him a reputation for being more of a brawler than a boxer. His nickname, Popó, was...
, boxer. - Adriana LimaAdriana LimaAdriana Lima is a Brazilian model, best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel since 2000, and as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009...
, supermodel - Antônio Carlos MagalhãesAntônio Carlos MagalhãesAntônio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhães was a Brazilian politician. His paternal grandparents were Portuguese . He served as Governor of Bahia three times and represented Bahia in the Senate of Brazil three times...
, politician. - Antônio Carlos Vovô, leader of Ilê Aiyê Afro Bloco.
- Antônio Rodrigo NogueiraAntonio Rodrigo NogueiraAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFCInterim Heavyweight Champion...
, (Minotauro), MMA fighter. - Bebeto GamaBebetoJosé Roberto Gama de Oliveira, known as 'Bebeto', is a former football forward, a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...
, football forward. - Caetano VelosoCaetano VelosoCaetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, musician. - Carlinhos BrownCarlinhos BrownCarlinhos Brown is a Brazilian musician from Salvador, Bahia. He was born in Candeal Pequeno, a small neighbourhood in the Brotas area of Salvador de Bahia...
, singer. - Castro AlvesCastro AlvesAntônio Frederico de Castro Alves was a Brazilian poet and playwright, famous for his Abolitionist and Republican poems...
, poet. - Cláudia LeitteCláudia LeitteCláudia Cristina Leite Inácio, known as Claudia Leitte is a Brazilian axé singer, and former vocalist of the group Babado Novo. Since she is one of the most popular axé singers in Brazil, she hosted MTV Brasil's Video Music Brasil 2007, in which she had been nominated as best singer in that award...
, singer. - Daniela MercuryDaniela MercuryDaniela Mercury , is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian axé, samba-reggae and MPB singer, songwriter and record producer. Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 20 million albums worldwide...
, musician. - Dias GomesDias GomesAlfredo de Freitas Dias Gomes was an important Brazilian playwright.He was born on October 19, 1922 in Salvador, Bahia and died in a car accident in São Paulo, in 1999. He started writing plays at age 15 and later wrote soap operas. He wrote the first ever colored soap opera in Brazilian...
, playwright. - Dorival CaymmiDorival CaymmiDorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933...
, singer. - Edvaldo ValérioEdvaldo ValérioEdvaldo Valério Silva Filho is a freestyle swimmer from Brazil. He competed for his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia...
, swimmer. - Gal CostaGal CostaGal Costa is a Brazilian singer of popular music.-Early life:...
, singer. - Gilberto GilGilberto GilGilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, singer. - Glauber Rocha, movie director.
- Gregório de MattosGregório de MattosGregório de Mattos e Guerra was the most famous Colonial Brazilian Baroque poet. Although he wrote many lyrical and religious poems, he was more well-known by his satirical ones, winning because of them the nickname "Boca do Inferno" .He is the patron of the 16th chair of the Brazilian Academy of...
, poet. - Irmã DulceIrmã DulceThe Blessed Irmã Dulce, S.M.I.C., was a Brazilian Catholic Franciscan Sister who was the founder of the Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce also known as the Charitable Works Foundation of Sister Dulce. Her work with the poor population in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has made her a candidate for sainthood in...
, Catholic nun. - Itamar FrancoItamar FrancoItamar Augusto Cautiero Franco was a Brazilian politician and the President of Brazil from December 29, 1992, to January 1, 1995. During his long political career, Franco was also a Senator, Mayor, Ambassador, Governor and Vice President...
, politician. - Ivete SangaloIvete SangaloIvete Maria Dias de Sangalo is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian Axé and MPB singer, songwriter, and occasional actress and television show host...
, singer. - João GilbertoJoão GilbertoJoão Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
, musician. - João Ubaldo RibeiroJoão Ubaldo RibeiroJoão Ubaldo Ribeiro is a Brazilian author born in Itaparica, Bahia on January 23, 1941. In the English speaking world his An Invincible Memory has been highly praised...
, writer. - Jorge AmadoJorge AmadoJorge Leal Amado de Faria was a Brazilian writer of the Modernist school. He was the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in film, notably Dona Flor and her Two Husbands in 1978...
, writer. - Junior Dos SantosJunior dos SantosJunior dos Santos Almeida, also known as Junior Cigano , is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Dos Santos fights in the Heavyweight division, under the tutelage of former UFC and Pride Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC...
, mixed martial artist. - Lateef Crowder Dos Santos, Capoeira practitioner
- Lázaro RamosLázaro RamosLuís Lázaro Sacramento Ramos is an Emmy Award-nominated Brazilian actor. He started his acting career with the Flock of Olodum Theater group, in Salvador, and is best known for his portrayal of João Francisco dos Santos in the 2002 film Madame Satã...
, actor. - Lyoto MachidaLyoto MachidaLyoto Carvalho Machida is a Japanese-Brazilian mixed martial artist from Belém, Brazil who fights as a light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
, mixed martial artist. - Manuel dos Reis MachadoManuel dos Reis MachadoManuel dos Reis Machado, commonly called Mestre Bimba , was a mestre of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira.-Early life:Machado is said to have had two birth certificates, dated 1899 and 1900, respectively...
(Bimba), capoeiraCapoeiraCapoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
master. - Marcos Andre Batista Santos (Vampeta), soccer player.
- Margareth MenezesMargareth MenezesMargareth Menezes is a Brazilian singer from Salvador, Bahia.Her style is considered axé but her music also steers into samba and MPB territory, at times drawing on African rhythms and reggae....
, singer. - Maria BethâniaMaria BethâniaMaria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
, singer. - Milton SantosMilton SantosMilton Almeida dos Santos was a Brazilian geographer who had a degree in law.-Biography:Santos was born in Brotas de Macaúbas, Bahia, Brazil on May 3, 1926. Santos' parents were teachers at elementary school and taught him at home how to read and write...
, geograph. - Nelson de Jesus SilvaNelson de Jesus SilvaNélson de Jesus Silva , better known simply as Dida , is a Brazilian former footballer who played as goalkeeper. He first rose to prominence in Brazilian club football in the 1990s with Vitória, Cruzeiro EC and SC Corinthians, where he gained a reputation as a penalty-saving specialist...
(Dida), soccer goalkeeper. - PittyPittyPriscilla Novaes Leone , better known as Pitty, is a Brazilian rock singer.She had played in two bands, Shes and Inkoma, before starting her solo career in 2003. She has sold over 2 million copies in her career, being one of the best selling rock artists in the 2000s...
, musician. - Raul SeixasRaul SeixasRaul Santos Seixas June 28, 1945 Salvador Northeast Brazil – August 21, 1989),was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer.He is sometimes called the "Father of Brazilian Rock" and "Maluco Beleza"....
, musician. - Ricardo SantosRicardo SantosRicardo Alex Costa Santos is a beach volleyball player from Brazil, who won the silver medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, with partner Zé Marco de Melo....
, beach volleyball player. - Ruy BarbosaRuy BarbosaRuy Barbosa de Oliveira was a Brazilian writer, jurist, and politician.Born in Salvador da Bahia, he was a federal representative, senator, Minister of Finance and diplomat. For his distinguished participation in the Hague Peace Conference of 1907, he earned the nickname "Eagle of the Hague"...
de Oliveira, writer, jurist and politician. - Saulo FernandesSaulo FernandesSaulo Jorge Fernandes Navarro de Oliveira is a Brazilian Axé singer. Before entering for the Banda Eva , in March 2002, Saulo was the lead singer of the Banda Chica Fé .- Career :...
, singer. - Simone BittencourtSimone Bittencourt de OliveiraSimone Bittencourt de Oliveira, better known as Simone, is a Brazilian singer and a major performer of Música Popular Brasileira who has recorded more than 31 albums.-Biography:...
, singer. - Tom ZéTom ZéTom Zé is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when the musician and label head David Byrne discovered an album recorded...
, musician. - Tony KanaanTony KanaanAntoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho, commonly known as Tony Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driver of Lebanese heritage. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing's 7-Eleven sponsored car, winning three times in his Honda-powered Dallara...
, race car driver. - Wagner MouraWagner MouraWagner Maniçoba Moura is a Brazilian film, television and stage actor. Moura graduated in journalism at Universidade Federal da Bahia but decided to become an actor....
, actor. - Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, capoeira master
Sister cities
Salvador's sister citiesTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
are:
| Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... , California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... (1962) Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... (1985) Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo , locally referred to as Angra, is a municipality and city on the island of Terceira, within the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores. The municipal area has a population of 35,581 and an area of . Along with Praia da Vitória to the north, it is one of two municipal... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... (1985) Cascais Cascais Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... (1985) Cotonou Cotonou -Demographics:*1979: 320,348 *1992: 536,827 *2002: 665,100 *2005: 690,584 The main languages spoken in Cotonou include the Fon language, Aja language, Yoruba language and French.-Transport:... , Benin Benin Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located... (1987) |
Pontevedra Pontevedra Pontevedra is a city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the comarca and province of Pontevedra, in Galicia . It is also the capital of its own municipality which is, in fact, often considered as an extension of the actual city... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... (1992) Havana Havana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous... , Cuba Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city... (1993) Sciacca, Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... (2001) Harbin Harbin Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River... , China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... (2003) Miami, Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... (2006) |
External links
- Pelourinho of Salvador, Bahia Digital Media Archive (creative commonsCreative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), data from a Federal University of Bahia/University of FerraraUniversity of FerraraThe University of Ferrara is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 500 students, was the best attended of the free universities in Italy...
/Leica GeosystemsLeica GeosystemsLeica Geosystems based in eastern Switzerland produces products and systems for surveying and geographical measurement...
/CyArkCyArkCyArk is a 501 nonprofit organization located in Oakland, California, United States. The company's website refers to it as a "digital archive of the world’s heritage sites for preservation and education"...
research partnership