Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
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, and it is the ninth most populous city in Latin America.Over 80% of the population of metropolitan region of Salvador has Black African ancestry, 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
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 (279 ft) above the latter,[1] 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.
It cost $0.15 Reals (about 0.09 cents) to ride the elevator and lifts you over 200 feet in a little over 20 seconds. This is much quicker and safer than walking the narrow, winding streets to reach the upper level.
The Elevator to the top
At Upper town, it is a very pleasant area to walk along the old cobblestone streets and sidewalks. There are many beautiful buildings which exhibit 17th and 18th century architecture. Below are a number of examples.
We wanted to reach the 16th century Igreja de Sao Francisco, one of the oldest and most ornate Cathedrals in Salvador. Salvador has almost 400 churches and Cathedrals
Convent and Church of São Francisco (Igreja de São Francisco) At a time when Salvador was the biggest port in South America and Portugal still vied with Spain and Holland for the title of world’s richest empire, the sugar barons of Salvador decided to splurge a little and let folks know that their colony had arrived. Beginning in 1708 and continuing until 1723, they took more than 100 kilograms of gold and slathered it over every available knob and curlicue in the richly carved interior of this high-baroque church. The result could hardly be called beautiful, but by God, it’s impressive. The inside fairly gleams; on nights when the doors are open it casts a yellow sheen all the way up to Terreiro de Jesus.
But when we got there we were told during festival times all the churches are closed and locked up, because of so much theft of the gold.
After having read The River of Doubt , watching the movie The Mission and then traveling the Amazon and finally seeing Salvador, I have a real feeling for what it must have been like in this area from the colonial period through the early 20th century. This is a stop I am glad I did not miss.
Salvador da Bahia has a predominantly Black African population which is evident everywhere in the Music and art. Pelourinho is the historical centre and a UNESCO world heritage Site. There are many colorful buildings and narrow streets that date from the 17th though 19th century.
Although the Carnival a few days away there is a very festive air about the upper town and we enjoyed a very pleasant day wandering.Women dressed in beauiful dresses. We did some great shopping at markets by the elevator.
