Salvador da Bahia: Brazil's First Capital, And Its Soul
Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil. Founded in 1549 by the captain-general Tome de Souza for the Portuguese crown, it ran the colony for 214 years (1549 to 1763) before the government moved south to Rio. By the time the capital relocated, this place had already been the largest slave port in the Americas for more than a century, with somewhere between 3 and 4 million Africans dragged through the bay on their way to the sugar plantations.
What that produced is a city more African than anywhere else in the western hemisphere. About 80 percent of Salvador’s three million residents are Afro-Brazilian. Samba was invented here. So was capoeira. So was Candomble, the syncretic religion that blends Yoruba orishas with Catholic saints because the enslaved were forbidden to worship their own gods openly. Olodum, the world-famous samba-reggae band, was formed here in 1979 and played on Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us video filmed right in Pelourinho in 1996.
The historic centre, Pelourinho, is a UNESCO World Heritage site of pastel-painted colonial buildings, named, brutally, after the whipping post where enslaved Africans were publicly punished. The Portuguese built the capital up on a 72-metre cliff over the bay, with the port and warehouses down at sea level. An Art Deco elevator (the Elevador Lacerda, 1873) still connects the two cities.
Salvador’s nickname is a cidade das igrejas, the city of churches, because there are over 300 of them packed into the historic centre, including the Igreja de Sao Francisco, which holds more gold leaf than any other building in the Americas.
I spent 4 days here in 2017. Below are 159 photos covering the full city: Pelourinho rooftops, civic squares, daytime and nighttime streets, the gold-lined churches, the lower-city port, the Barra lighthouse and beaches, the working-class Itapagipe peninsula, and a sunset boat tour across All Saints Bay to Mar Grande on Itaparica island.
Pelourinho From Above: First Look At The Old Capital
I started by getting on a rooftop terrace above the Praca da Se. From here you can see what Salvador actually is: a colonial peninsula city, cathedral square in the middle, terracotta roofs spilling down the cliff, and All Saints Bay (Baia de Todos os Santos) wrapping around the whole thing. The bay is one of the largest in the world (1,100 km2) and full of cargo ships at any hour. Salvador is still one of Brazil’s biggest ports.
The little round fort sitting out in the bay is Forte de Sao Marcelo, built between 1650 and 1696 to defend the harbour. The big yellow building down at sea level is the Mercado Modelo, originally the 1861 customs house, now a crafts market.
Looking down at Praca da Se from the Pelourinho rooftops, the central fountain ringed by jacaranda trees with the port cranes hazy on the horizon.
Cidade Baixa stretching along the bay below the cliff, with freighters anchored offshore. Salvador port still handles around 1.5 million containers a year.
Wide roofscape of Pelourinho, the orange terracotta tiles running unbroken to the modern city beyond. Salvador was the colonial capital of Brazil from 1549 to 1763.
The iconic frame: Elevador Lacerda on the left, yellow Palacio Rio Branco centre, marina and All Saints Bay filling the right.
The round Forte de Sao Marcelo (1650) sitting alone in the middle of the bay, with cargo ships lined up on the horizon waiting for berths.
Praca da Se again from a slightly different roof, late-afternoon light glancing off the fountain plaza.
Pastel low-rises climbing the hill behind Pelourinho. Most of these are working-class housing built over the colonial foundations.
Yellow Palacio Rio Branco from above, with the SALVADOR sign in the plaza and bulk carriers beyond in the bay.
Pelourinho rooftops in the foreground, the modern Vitoria skyline rising in the distance.
Cidade Baixa cityscape, mostly residential, with the cargo terminals just out of frame to the right.
Wide angle of the lower-city commercial district pressed up against the water, with anchored freighters strung out across the bay.
Aerial of the twin bell towers of the Catedral Basilica rising over the orange tile roofs, the bay panorama opening behind.
Marina seen from the Elevador Lacerda viewing deck, Forte de Sao Marcelo floating in the middle distance and the long line of waiting freighters on the horizon.
Cidade Baixa rooftops dropping away below the elevator, with the cliff-top Catedral visible on the right edge of the frame.
Praca Da Se And Terreiro De Jesus: The Civic Core
The Praca da Se and Terreiro de Jesus sit at the heart of Cidade Alta, two wide colonial squares that connect to each other and hold most of the important secular buildings.
Terreiro de Jesus is anchored by the Catedral Basilica (1672, originally a Jesuit colegio, became the cathedral in 1933 after the old See was demolished), the Faculdade de Medicina (founded 1808 by D. Joao VI, the oldest medical school in Brazil), and two more churches around its edges. Praca da Se is where the old See cathedral stood until the city pulled it down to widen a tram line, a decision the Cruz Caida sculpture still commemorates.
This is also the start and end of every Pelourinho walking tour, and the spot the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos (the Black brotherhood church) sits a couple of blocks downhill from.
Bronze statue of a Tupinamba warrior with spear standing at Praca da Se, the scaffolded Catedral Basilica behind. The Tupinamba were the indigenous people the Portuguese first encountered when they founded Salvador in 1549.
Praca da Se fountain close up, with the green-scaffolded Catedral and the yellow Palacio Rio Branco framing the square.
Catedral Basilica do Salvador, the Jesuit-built former Colegio (1656-1672) that became the cathedral in 1933 after the old See was demolished. The classical Portuguese facade is faced in lioz limestone shipped from Lisbon.
Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia on Terreiro de Jesus, the oldest medical school in Brazil (founded 1808 by D. Joao VI). The peach Eclectic facade now houses the Memorial da Medicina museum.
Terreiro de Jesus, the wide colonial square that holds the Catedral, Faculdade de Medicina, and two more churches. The fountain in the middle dates to 1857.
Close up of the Terreiro de Jesus fountain, four cherubs at the corners and a crowned statue on top.
Quick selfie on Terreiro de Jesus, a Bahia Brazil Books sign visible behind me.
Looking up at the Catedral facade, its twin bell towers and central cross silhouetted against the Bahian sky.
Standing on Largo do Pelourinho, the iconic colourful colonial row behind me. This is one of the most photographed spots in Brazil.
Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos (Our Lady of the Rosary of Black People), built between 1704 and 1796 by the Black Catholic brotherhood. The only church in Salvador slaves were permitted to attend.
Busy square in front of the Palacio Rio Branco, with a bronze statue and the yellow neoclassical facade behind.
Stopping at the colourful SALVADOR letter sign that sits in front of the palace, classic tourist photo spot.
Monumento ao Dois de Julho in Largo do Campo Grande, the Caboclo (mixed indigenous-European figure) on a tall pillar crushing a serpent. It commemorates Bahia independence from Portugal on 2 July 1823, the day Salvador actually won its war (a year after the rest of Brazil).
Bronze statue of Galen (the Greek-Roman physician, AD 113 to 200) tucked into a niche on the Faculdade de Medicina facade, with the plaque GALENO 113=200 below.
Looking down a Pelourinho cobble alley toward the pastel twin towers of Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos at the end. One of the perfect Salvador compositions.
Walking The Pelourinho
Pelourinho is the colonial centre and the prettiest part of the city. Cobblestoned streets, pastel facades, every block painted yellow, pink, blue, or green. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985, restored in the 1990s with state money after decades as a crime-ridden slum.
The name means whipping post. This is where enslaved Africans were brought for public punishment during the 300-plus years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the name has been preserved in the neighbourhood as a deliberate acknowledgement of what happened here.
The area is heavily policed and very safe in the daytime. After dark it empties out fast.
Museum painting of colonial Pelourinho, enslaved Africans gathered around a fountain in a scene from the 1700s. Salvador was the largest slave port in the Americas, with around 3 million Africans landing here from 1550 to 1888.
Three young men in rainbow-striped shorts standing barefoot on the cobbles, part of a Pelourinho street performance troupe.
Same group closer up, costume against a green fence.
Sixties mid-rise wedged next to a yellow colonial row, small white bell tower poking up between them. Pelourinho is more layered architecturally than the postcards admit.
Bell tower with its blue-and-white diamond-tiled spire, a regional Carmelite signature.
Bronze bust of D. Pedro Fernandes Sardinha, the first Catholic bishop of Brazil (1551 to 1556). He was famously shipwrecked and killed by the Caete indigenous people, who reportedly ate him.
Bahiacafe Hotel facade with PM Bahia officers in yellow high-vis vests standing out front. The historic centre is one of the most heavily policed neighbourhoods in Brazil.
Tourist shop entirely covered in bright Bahia-themed art and shirts, the kind of saturated colour that defines Pelourinho street commerce.
Two women walking the cobbles past the Ibiza Hotel, a quieter Pelourinho lane in the late afternoon.
Looking down a steep Pelourinho street through pastel houses, the bay just visible at the bottom of the slope.
Smiling PM Bahia officer leaning on a green colonial door, a stray dog resting at his feet. The most Bahian image I have.
Cobbled Pelourinho corner with cafe tables set up, the pink, blue, and yellow facades doing the rest of the work.
Bright Pelourinho block with a police van parked and locals on the cobbles. Daytime safety here is good, after dark less so.
Pelourinho alley scene: parked motorcycle, graffiti, a kid playing with a dog. The lived-in version of the neighbourhood.
Stone steps climbing past a graffiti-covered wall up to a scaffolded blue and white church under restoration. Half of Pelourinho is always being repainted or rebuilt.
Street mural of an indigenous woman with feather earrings and a VOCE+UNIVERSO tag, the kind of political street art Pelourinho is full of.
Locals having an end-of-day beer on the cobbles, a woman in a green floral top deep in conversation.
Yellow Pelourinho pousada with pink trim and hanging plants, the visual signature of the whole district condensed into one facade.
Strip of colourful Pelourinho buildings, one half-swallowed by vines, blue and orange and pink stacked together.
Pelourinho wall mural with a tree, faces, and birds painted across the crumbling stucco of a derelict building.
Three stray dogs and a cat all hanging out behind an ornate metal screen door, the unofficial mascots of the alley.
FEMINISMO E REVOLUCAO in pink and black graffiti on a Pelourinho wall.
Tilt-shift view down a Pelourinho street to the bay, fishing boats anchored in the calm water at the end of the slope.
Wall mural of two cartoon frogs with the slogan E VIVERAM FELIZES PARA SEMPRE (and they lived happily ever after).
Afro-Brazilian Heritage: Olodum, Michael Jackson, And Capoeira
The Museu Afro-Brasileiro on Terreiro de Jesus is the standard introduction to Salvador’s African cultural pillar, but the heritage spills out into the streets in a much more interesting way.
Olodum, the world-famous samba-reggae group, was founded in 1979 in Pelourinho and played on Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us music video filmed right in this neighbourhood in 1996. The filming balcony is still kept as a permanent shrine to the visit.
Capoeira, the martial-art-disguised-as-dance developed by enslaved Africans here in Bahia, is performed on the cobbles for tips. It was illegal in Brazil until 1937. Today it is in UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.
Museum exhibit showing Michael Jackson with Olodum filming the <em>They Don't Care About Us</em> video on Largo do Pelourinho in 1996. The shoot put Salvador on the global pop map.
Display of colourful Bahiana doll figurines, the white-dress-and-headwrap saints of the Salvador souvenir economy.
Michael Jackson cardboard cutout and poster on the famous filming balcony, kept up by the building owner as a permanent shrine.
Rastafarian street vendor grinning and pointing back at me, Brazil flag hanging in the background of his stall.
Another wall of Bahiana figurines, different shop, same idea. The dolls reference the women who sell acaraje (black-eyed pea fritters) on every Salvador street corner.
Graffiti mural mashing up a girl in a frog hat, an anime character, and a hammer, the kind of unsanctioned street art that lives between the official UNESCO repaints.
Street capoeira on the cobbles, two players locked up with one inverted into a handstand. Capoeira was developed by enslaved Africans here in Bahia and remained illegal in Brazil until 1937.
Pelourinho After Dark
The historic centre is a different city after sunset. Most people clear out by 9pm except on Tuesdays when the streets fill up for live music. The lighting was redone in the 1990s, warm sodium lamps that keep the colonial atmosphere intact.
The Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos and the Igreja do Carmo are both worth seeing at night, both are floodlit and both photograph spectacularly against the dark sky.
It is safe inside the policed zone. Outside it you should take a taxi.
Dusk Pelourinho with the tangle of power lines silhouetted against an orange sky.
Crumbling blue colonial facade at night, peeling paint and louvered windows lit by streetlamps.
Igreja do Carmo (1580) glowing under floodlights at night, palm trees and the central cross silhouetted.
Another crumbling colonial after dark, weathered doors and peeling stucco. The buildings have a quieter dignity at night.
Two men walking past a Rua do Carmo street sign on the empty night cobbles.
Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Pretos lit up at night, the twin towers absolutely cinematic. Photographing this church after dark is unmissable.
Standing in front of a floodlit Pelourinho church (Igreja Sao Domingos on Terreiro de Jesus) at night.
Same church from a wider angle, the green-trimmed Baroque pediment and twin towers glowing against the dark sky.
Igreja De Sao Francisco: 800 Kilos Of Gold Leaf
The Igreja e Convento de Sao Francisco (1686 to 1755) is the most ornate Baroque interior in the Americas. The Franciscans built this complex at the height of the Brazilian gold and sugar boom and they did not hold back. An estimated 800 kg of gold leaf covers the carved cedar interior, the most in any single building in the Americas.
Look closely at the carved cherubs around the altars. They have very African features, the enslaved artisans inserted their own faces and the Franciscans either did not notice or did not care.
The attached cloister is decorated with about 55,000 imported blue Portuguese azulejo tiles depicting moral scenes meant to instruct the friars during their walks. Next door is the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Sao Francisco, the only Spanish-Andalusian carved-stone facade in Brazil. Both are part of the same visit.
Largo de Sao Francisco with its tall stone Cruzeiro (cross) in the middle and the Igreja do Convento de Sao Francisco facade at the back. The Franciscans built the complex between 1686 and 1755 at the height of the Brazilian gold rush.
Looking down a Pelourinho lane framing twin Baroque bell towers at the end of the street.
Convent of Sao Francisco cloister: arches, red sofas set up for events, dining tables along the verandah. The cloister is still partly used by Franciscan friars.
Detail of the carved stone facade of the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Sao Francisco next door, the only example of a Spanish-Andalusian style facade in Brazil (carved around 1703).
Inside one of the side chapels, gilded altar with chandeliers and bouquets of flowers stacked at the foot.
Close up of the same altar, gold leaf catching the light around a small Madonna statue.
Looking up at a Baroque ceiling painting framed in heavy gilded carving, religious figures in blue and red overhead.
Another ceiling fresco, the blue, red, and gold palette of high Bahian Baroque.
Side chapel interior with turquoise walls, gold altarpiece, and a large painted Christ banner above the main image.
Looking up the nave of Sao Francisco toward the main gilded altar. The interior holds an estimated 800 kg of gold leaf, the most in any building in the Americas.
Close up of one of the blue Portuguese azulejo panels lining the cloister, a procession scene caught between rows of cherubs.
Gilded niche holding a polychrome saint statue with the Christ child. Many of the figures were carved by enslaved African artisans who quietly inserted African features.
Marble Madonna and Child with two cherubs at her feet, set into one of the cloister arches.
Gold-framed crucifix mounted on a blue azulejo wall, the Bahian colour scheme in its purest form.
Old colonial ceiling painting of an aristocratic couple in a coffered panel, woman in pink dress, man in blue uniform. Upper rooms of the convent.
Octagonal ceiling above the chapter house, gold framing every panel of religious painting.
Painting of Christ and the woman taken in adultery, hung in a side aisle. Attributed to an 18th-century Bahian painter, Jose Joaquim da Rocha.
Blue azulejo narrative panel showing the Virgin and Child surrounded by figures, set into the cloister wall.
Wall niche holding a terracotta Madonna in white robes, surrounded by palm fronds.
Three life-size statues in the church: Christ carrying the cross (left), the Virgin Mary praying (centre), and the resurrected Christ (right).
Hallway of standing saint statues in arched niches with Corinthian columns between, the names inscribed above each (S. Domingos, S. Francisco, etc).
Permanent nativity diorama inside the church: Baby Jesus in a straw cradle, a hovering angel, Joseph, an ox, and a horse in motion.
Sculpture of Sao Benedito, the Black Franciscan saint (the patron saint of African slaves in colonial Brazil), holding the Christ child.
Stone sundial dated 1736, Roman numerals etched around the dial. The Convento de Sao Francisco kept its own time before Greenwich.
Same sundial seen up close inside a protective glass case, with a plaque reading RELOGIO DO SOL ANNO 1736.
Portuguese azulejo panel showing a ship in port being unloaded by stevedores, one of dozens of narrative panels in the cloister.
Polychrome statue of Saint Michael the Archangel with feathered helmet and outstretched wings, sword raised.
Grand Baroque chapter house with carved coffered ceiling, chandeliers, blue azulejos on the lower walls, and rows of Brazilian rosewood chairs.
Cloister azulejo panel showing the Convento d'Aljustrel in Portugal, the kind of moral scene meant to instruct the friars during their walks.
Wider azulejo panel of a Portuguese waterfront with boats unloading, painted in characteristic blue and white tile.
Polychrome sculpture of the Franciscan monk Saint Francis embracing the bleeding Christ on the cross, one of the most striking objects in the church.
Visitor walking down the green-doored cloister corridor, a small tattoo visible on her back, religious paintings on the wall to the right.
Cruzeiro de Sao Francisco in the square, the carved stone cross silhouetted against the church facade with locals walking past below.
Cruz Caida, Palacio Rio Branco, And Old Cidade Baixa
A few civic landmarks worth knowing about. The Cruz Caida (Fallen Cross) is a modernist 1999 sculpture by Mario Cravo Junior marking the spot where the original Salvador See cathedral stood until 1933, when the city demolished it to make room for a tram line. The cross lies on its side because the cathedral is gone.
The Palacio Rio Branco was the official residence of Bahia governors from 1549 until 1979 and is now a state heritage museum. The current building is a 1919 Eclectic-style rebuild after the original was damaged in a 1912 naval bombardment. Inside, the wall of governors going back to Tome de Souza is striking, every face is white in a state that is 80 percent Black.
The rest of Cidade Baixa is mostly working-class commercial district, the side of Salvador that did not get UNESCO restoration money.
Cruz Caida (Fallen Cross), the modernist 1999 sculpture by Mario Cravo Junior marking the spot where the original Salvador See cathedral was demolished in 1933. The cross lies on its side because the cathedral is gone.
Cruz Caida from a wider angle, with the bay and anchored freighters behind. It is the most photographed modern sculpture in Salvador.
Vintage horseless carriage with yellow spoked wheels on display inside the Palacio Rio Branco. The palace was the seat of Bahia government from 1549 to 1979, currently a state heritage museum.
Standing in front of the Palacio Rio Branco facade, the 1919 Eclectic-style rebuild with eagles above the cornice and arched windows.
Crumbling four-storey colonial corner building in Cidade Baixa, cars squeezed against the wall. Most of the lower city is still waiting for the restoration money that fixed up Pelourinho.
Old Eclectic-style civic building in blue and white, a fine 19th-century facade in a part of town tourists rarely walk to.
Modest residential corner painted bright pink and red, the kind of compact two-storey housing that fills the lower city outside the historic centre.
Elevador Lacerda And Mercado Modelo
The Elevador Lacerda is the most photographed thing in Salvador. An Art Deco elevator built in 1873 (rebuilt 1930) connecting Cidade Alta to Cidade Baixa, 72 metres straight down to the port. It carries about 30,000 people a day, costs 15 cents to ride, and the view from the top deck is one of the best in the city.
Below the elevator sits the Mercado Modelo, the 1861 customs house, now a three-storey crafts market with hundreds of stalls selling capoeira berimbaus, Candomble figurines, fitas, and assorted Bahian souvenirs. Out front is the marina, the launching point for ferries to Itaparica island, and the everyday rhythm of the lower city.
From the top deck of the Elevador Lacerda looking down at the marina, the Cruz Caida cross in the foreground and the yellow Mercado Modelo on the right. The Lacerda is a 72-metre Art Deco elevator (1873, rebuilt 1930) that still carries around 30,000 people a day between Cidade Alta and Cidade Baixa.
Looking up at the elevator and the Palacio Rio Branco from below, Mercado Modelo cafe umbrellas in the foreground. The 72-metre cliff drop is what made Salvador unusable as a port until the elevator was built.
Mercado Modelo from the lower city, the yellow neoclassical facade (originally the 1861 customs house) with green and red cafe umbrellas on the upper deck, the elevator shaft rising behind.
African elephant tribal-print fabric for sale at Mercado Modelo, one of the three storeys of crafts stalls inside.
Local boys jumping off a concrete sea wall at the marina, sun on their backs and a yellow-and-green tour boat docked behind.
Marina full of small fishing boats (REIS XX and EL REIS III in the foreground), shrimp boats and sailboats packed into the harbour against the afternoon glare.
Bus stop at the foot of the cliff, a long row of locals waiting, the Ganru bakery (panificacao) and Havaianas store across the street. This is the everyday Salvador, not the tourist version.
Barra: Lighthouse, Beach, And The Mouth Of The Bay
Barra is the southern tip of the peninsula and the mouth of All Saints Bay. The neighbourhood is upper-middle-class, with high-rise condos along the beach and some of the highest real-estate prices in northeast Brazil.
The Farol da Barra (Barra Lighthouse, 1698) is the oldest lighthouse in the Americas. It sits inside the Forte de Santo Antonio da Barra, a star-shaped Portuguese fort built to guard the entrance to the bay. The Dutch tried to take it in 1624 and held it briefly before the Portuguese took it back. The lighthouse still works.
Praia do Porto da Barra is often called the best urban beach in Brazil. The water inside the bay is calm and warm, and the west-facing sunsets are famous. Cristo da Barra (1949), a less famous cousin of Rio Cristo Redentor, stands on the bluff above the beach.
Praia do Farol da Barra in tilt-shift, the curved urban beach running west from the lighthouse on the point.
Marble statue of Christ (Cristo da Barra, 1949), a less famous Bahian cousin of Rio Cristo Redentor, against a cloudy sky.
Praia da Barra with beach umbrellas and the Cristo on the green hill above, the photo most people come to Barra to take.
Farol da Barra lighthouse and the white walls of the Forte de Santo Antonio (1698) behind it, the coat of arms over the fort entrance. The oldest lighthouse in the Americas.
Posing next to a PM Bahia police van at Barra with an officer in yellow vest, friendliest cops in Brazil.
Rocky shoreline below the lighthouse at low tide, tide pools and dark volcanic rock leading out to the surf.
Wider angle of the Farol da Barra, palm trees in the foreground and a few small boats anchored in the calm water.
The classic Barra composition: black-and-white striped lighthouse, the fort wall, palm trees, and the beach all together.
Looking back at the city from the seawall, calm bay water in the foreground and the high-rise condos of the Barra neighbourhood rising behind.
Rainbow over the ocean off Barra after a brief afternoon shower, with a parked police van and a streetlamp in the foreground.
Farol da Barra wider angle from the grassy hill, the whole fort-and-lighthouse complex in one frame.
Praia do Porto da Barra on a Saturday afternoon, the crowd packed onto the sand. The fort and church on the bluff above are the Forte de Santa Maria and the Capela de Sao Diogo (1612).
Porto da Barra closer in, the beach umbrellas and the surf line, families and vendors mixing on the sand.
Two parked police vehicles (bus and van) with a CRACK E POSSIVEL VENCER message painted on the side, part of a state anti-drug campaign.
Wide tilt-shift of Porto da Barra with the Forte de Santa Maria on the point at the far end of the beach.
Itapagipe Peninsula: Forte De Monte Serrat And Boa Viagem
Itapagipe is the long peninsula that sticks out into the bay just north of the centre. Working-class neighbourhoods (Ribeira, Boa Viagem) with no tourists, no UNESCO money, and some of the best food in the city. This is the historic Black working-class heart of Salvador. Many residents still fish out of small wooden saveiros for a living, and parts of it feel more like a fishing village than a colonial capital.
At the tip of the peninsula is the Forte de Monte Serrat (1583), one of the oldest forts in the Americas. An Italian-engineer-designed star fort with distinctive bell-shaped corner turrets, it defended the northern approaches to the bay for 400 years and is still partly used by the Brazilian army.
The little Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem (1734) on the next beach over is the patron church of the local fishermen.
Wide tilt-shift beach view from the Itapagipe peninsula, palm tree in the foreground and the port cranes of Cidade Baixa hazy in the distance.
Forte de Monte Serrat (1583) with its distinctive bell-shaped corner turrets, palm trees in the foreground and cannons aimed at the bay. One of the oldest forts in the Americas.
Long red bulk carrier seen at distance from Itapagipe, the type of ship that still keeps Salvador port working.
Standing on the Forte de Monte Serrat ramparts, the white walls of the star fort behind. The fort defended the northern approach to the bay against Dutch attacks in the 1600s.
Bronze plaque at the fort entrance reading EXERCITO BRASILEIRO 6 REGIAO MILITAR FORTE DE MONTE SERRAT. The army still uses part of the fort.
Crumbling colonial houses along the Itapagipe waterfront with tide pools below. This is working-class Salvador, off the tourist map.
Run-down lighthouse keeper building next to a small church (Igreja de Monte Serrat) and a red-and-white channel marker, the tip of the peninsula.
Wooden fishing pier with MECK'S graffiti on the metal frame, locals casting lines into the bay. This is Boa Viagem, one of the best Salvador neighbourhoods for fish.
Wide tilt-shift of the long line of freighters anchored in the bay, waiting for berths at the port across the water.
Forte de Monte Serrat from water level on the next beach over, the white walls rising on a green hill behind the palm trees.
Salvador skyline (Vitoria and Graca neighbourhoods, the wealthy modern part of the city) seen across the bay from Itapagipe.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem, a small white colonial church (1734) with a blue azulejo pediment, the patron church of the fishermen who launch from the pier below.
Bay Crossing To Mar Grande: A Sunset Boat Tour
The standard tourist boat tour leaves from the Mercado Modelo dock, crosses All Saints Bay to Mar Grande on Itaparica island, and brings you back at sunset. About 8 hours including a lunch stop. Touristy but worth it for the perspective on the city, which is built around the bay rather than the open Atlantic.
Mar Grande itself is a small Bahian fishing village: cobbled main square, a couple of 18th-century chapels, a flame tree in full bloom in the square, locals at a boteco with cold beer at 11 in the morning. Most visitors do not get this far out of the city.
The sunset on the way back is the highlight. The bay water is glassy on a calm day and the silhouette of Itaparica catches the orange. The last shot below is the very last photo of the trip.
Costa do Sol passenger ferries lined up at the Mercado Modelo terminal, the water taxis that run constantly between Salvador and Mar Grande on Itaparica island.
Salvador skyline (Vitoria, Graca, Barra) panorama from the bay, the most-developed part of the city stacked along the cliff.
Bulk carrier GLOBAL ARROW anchored in All Saints Bay, red hull bright against the blue water (tilt-shift).
Village square in Mar Grande on Itaparica island, locals gathered at an outdoor cafe with an ALUGA-SE (for rent) sign and a woman taking a picture.
Mar Grande beach promenade in tilt-shift, palm-lined and dead quiet on a weekday, with the bay running off to the horizon.
Wall mural reading PERMANECE NA NATUREZA (stay in nature) with a painted octopus, dolphins, and fish, by a local artist named Hugo.
Igreja de Sao Lourenco in Mar Grande, an 18th-century white Baroque chapel with a single bell tower, weathered by the salt air.
Flame tree (Delonix regia) in full red bloom in a Mar Grande square, with a PASTEL DO VAL snack stall sign behind. The visual signature of Bahian summer.
BAR DO ESPANHA, a red-and-yellow corner bar in Mar Grande with locals sitting outside in plastic chairs. Bahian street bars (botecos) are where the city actually socialises.
Decorative carved facade pediment dated 1896 on a Mar Grande building, two small figures flanking a stylised lyre.
Small white-and-yellow Neo-Gothic chapel in Mar Grande, turquoise pointed-arch door, red steps, magenta bougainvillea spilling down one side.
Close up of a weathered colonial statue: pink-painted face and curly black hair, the paint chipped down to bare stone in places.
Same statue from further back, a young woman in a peeling blue colonial robe holding flowers, standing in a small Mar Grande square.
On the boat back across the bay at sunset, a passenger holding up a green iPhone to photograph the city, headphones-wearing kid in the foreground.
Golden hour skyline of Vitoria and Graca from the boat, the city lit up by the setting sun, sailboats and the Costa do Sol ferry crossing in the foreground.
Sailboats silhouetted against the sunset on the way home, three two-masted schooners moored in the calm water. The kind of evening Bahia is famous for.
Small turquoise-and-yellow rowboat floating alone in the marina with a VENDO DE FIBRA (fibreglass for sale) sign nailed to its mast, the very last shot of the trip.
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