Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia – Brazil

Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia – Brazil

Short Report

As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549 to 1763, Salvador de Bahia witnessed the mix of European, African and indigenous cultures. It was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves to work on the sugar plantations. The city has managed to retain many of the excellent Renaissance buildings. A special feature of the old town are the brightly colored houses, often decorated with fine its stucco-work.

Wide Report

Salvador de Bahia is an eminent example of Renaissance urban planning adapted to a colonial hotel with a top place of a defensive, administrative and operating nature which overlooks the city where commercial activities will concentrate on the harbor. The density of monuments, together with Ouro Preto, the colonial city is in the Brazilian Northeast. It is one of the main points of convergence of European, African and indigenous cultures in the 16th to the 18th century.

Salvador was the first historical capital of Brazil, because already in 1549, the Governor General, Thome de Souza, on the orders of João II of Portugal, was the seat of the royal administration. He played a leading economic and political role until 1763, when the seat of the administration was transferred to Rio de Janeiro. The upper town, located in the surroundings of Bahia Todos los Santos, was discovered in 1502 by Amerigo Vespucci and is preserved by its historical evolution. It was built on a ridge parallel to the Atlantic coast, making possible defense against the Spanish (1580) and the Netherlands (1624) attacks.

In the north and north-east, the lower town and the port does not retain their pristine nature, while on the other three sides population growth, which is extremely fast since 1966 as a result of the industrial development of the region, has resulted in the historic town is surrounded by a very dense urban area. The historic center itself, which rotates around the Pelourinho district with the triangular location is characterised by a view of the 16th-century plan, the density of the monuments and the homogeneity of the structure on a hilly and picturesque location asset which the urban environment by steep rising and falling view of incomparable beauty.

In addition to a number of important buildings of the 17 to 18th century, such as the cathedral and the monastery of St Francis, St Dominic, Carmel and St Anthony Salvador also owns a large number of 16th-century open spaces (Municipal Plaza, a House of Mercy) and the baroque palaces (archiepiscopal palace, Palace Saldanha, Ferrão Palace, etc. ). There are also many streets which are characteristic of the colonial city, coated with bright colored houses, which in some cases are equipped with high-quality stucco.

Source:whc/unesco