Travel Tips

The Pelourinho, the historic square in the heart of the old city of Salvador, is the center of a remarkable renewal of art and culture. Once a place used to auction African captives and punish rebellious slaves, the Pelourinho has become the center of a resurgence of African-Brazilian identity. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it is now home to groups who reclaim their African heritage through music, dance, drums and art.

Hmmm when I disect the word Neck Lace... sounds kind of odd and old fashioned... Anyhoo... This my dears is a street vendor...

This baroque church, east of Praça da Sé, is crammed with displays of wealth and splendor. Gold leaf is used like wallpaper. There's an 80kg silver chandelier and imported azulejos (Portuguese ceramic tiles). Forced to build their masters' church and yet prohibited from practicing their own religion (Candomblé terreiros (venues) were hidden and kept far from town), the African slave artisans responded through their work: the faces of the cherubs are distorted, some angels are endowed with huge sex organs, some appear to be pregnant. Most of these creative acts were chastely covered by 20th century sacristans. Traditionally, blacks were seated in far corners of the church without a view of the altar. Notice the polychrome figure of São Pedro da Alcântara by Manoel Inácio da Costa. The artist, like his subject, was suffering from tuberculosis. He made one side of the saint's face more ashen than the other so that São Pedro appears more ill as you walk past him. José Joaquim da Rocha painted the hallway ceiling using perspective technique, which was considered a novelty at the time.

I assume this is a cimnema... I didnt actually go inside it and didnt see anyone else do so either... does anyone know if it is in fact still a cinema or there for historical purposes?

I don't know what this building is... but if you know... send me an email and let me know!

Turban, starched skirts of colorful pattern, shawl over the shoulder or tied to the breast, bracelets and necklaces compose the "baiana's" clothes. They look like the clothes worn in the past by the slave women. Today those who participate in the ritual washing of the stairs of the Church Our Lord of Bonfim in Salvador dress like that.

The women who sell titbits like "acarajés" (beans cake) and other pieces of food in the streets also wear the "baiana"' clothes. In the parties of the "Recôncavo" (region that includes the capital and its surroundings) groups of "samba dancers" are accompanied by "baianas" who sing and move in circles with their colorful skirts.

In the everyday and at home, however, the same women wear dresses or trousers as the majority of the woman population all over Brazil. But the sophisticated lacy blouses, the jewels and trinkets are not enough to make a "baiana". As in the famous lyrics of the "samba" composed by Dorival Caymi, her charm is in the swayings and in the graceful way with which she moves.

This is the view of the water and Mercado Modelo from the elavator. Right next to MM is where you can get the Catamaran to Morro.

The most pleasant way to reach Morro de São Paulo is the catamaran departing from downtown Salvador; the Terminal Maritimo do Mercado Modelo is just across the street from the Mercado Modelo. There are three daily departures: 8:30 am, Lancha Ilhabela(tel. 071/9989-4282); 1:30pm, Catamarã Farol do Morro (tel. 071/483-1036); and 2pm, Catamarã Gamboa do Morro (tel. 071/641-2254). Each costs R$45 (US$15) and takes about 2 hours. Return from Morro de São Paulo is respectively at 12:30pm, 9am, and 11:30am.

Mercado Modelo has around 300 merchants selling a large variety of souvenirs: leather goods, hammocks, musical instruments, masks, carvings, Orixás, paintings, terra-cotta figurines, jewelry, lace, and much more. Open Monday through Saturday 8am to 7pm, Sunday 8am to noon.