Salvador is an important Brazilian city, capital of the state of Bahia and first capital of Brazil. Its inhabitants are called soteropolitanos, gentílico servant starting from the junction of the Greek names of sotero (that means the savior) and pólis (that for its time, it is city) in Greek Soterópolis, that is to say, city of Salvador.

Placed in Microrregião of Salvador it is the third more populous city of Brazil (2.673.560 inhabitants) for the estimate of 2005, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The Metropolitan Area of Salvador has about 3,3 million inhabitants. The surface of the municipal district of Salvador is of 709 km² (source: IBGE) and its coordinates starting from the mark of the foundation of the city, in him Fortaleza of Santo Antonio is 13° south and 38° 31 ' 12 '' west. I center economic of the state - he/she is port exporter, industrial and tourist center, he/she has several universities and a naval base.

The area, before even of the city to be founded, it was already inhabited from the shipwreck of a French ship, in 1510, of whose crew was part Diogo Álvares, Caramuru. In 1534, the chapel was founded in louvor Our Lady of the Grace, because there Diogo Álvares and its wife, Catarina Paraguassu lived. In 1536, it arrived in the area the first donatário, Francisco Pereira Coutinho, that received hereditary captaincy of El-king Dom João III. It founded Pereira's Camp, in the environs where today it is the Slope of Barra. That camp, twelve years then, at that time of the foundation of the city, it was called Vila Velha. The Indians didn't like Pereira Coutinho because of its cruelty and arrogance in the treatment. That, several indigenous revolts happened while he was at the villa. One of them forced him to take refuge in Porto Seguro, with Diogo Álvares; in the turn, already in the Bay of All the Santos, facing strong storm, the ship, to the drift, arrived at the beach of Itaparica. In that, the Indians made it prisoner, but they gave freedom Caramuru. Francisco Pereira Coutinho was shredded and served in a party antropofágica. In 29 of Março of 1549 they arrive, for the Point of the Pattern, Tomé of Sousa, and cortege, in six embarkations: three naus, two caravels and a brig, with the king's from Portugal orders of founding a city-fortress call of São Salvador. He/she is born like this the city of Salvador, already city, already capital, without never to have been county. All the donatários of the hereditary captaincies was submitted to the governor-general of Brazil authority of the first, Tomé of Sousa. With the governor they came more than a thousand people in the embarkations. Nominated three hundred and twenty and receiving wages; among them the first doctor named to Brazil by one period of 3 years: Dr. Jorge Valadares; and Castro's pharmaceutical Diogo, six hundred military, degredados, and noblemen, besides the first priests Jesuits in Brazil, like Manuel of Nóbrega, João Aspilcueta Navarro, and Leonardo Nunes, among others. The women were little, what did with that the Portuguese rooted in Brazil, later, requested Kingdom the brides' shipping. Has Tomé of Sousa been perhaps the first visitor to fall in love for the place, how many after him, because he/she said to the employee that gave it the news that its substitute was I walk her: " Vêdes this, meirinho? Truth is that I wanted a lot, and it grew me the water in the mouth when he/she took care in going for Portugal; but why don't know now if it dries me the mouth in a such way that I want to spit and I don't can ". After Tomé of Sousa, Duarte of Costa was the governor-general of Brazil, it arrived to July 13, 1553, bringing 260 people, among them its son Álvaro, Jesuits as José of Anchieta, and dozens of orphans for they serve as wives for the colonists. Mem of Sá, third governor-general, that it governed up to 1572, it also contributed with a great administration. The city was invaded by the Dutchmen in 1598, 1624-1625 and 1638. The sugar, in the century XVII, was already the product more exported by the colony. In the end of this century Bahia becomes the largest county exporter of sugar. In this time, the limits of the city went from Santo Antonio's freguesia besides Carmo to the freguesia of Saint Old Pedro. The City of São Salvador of Bahia Bahia de Todos os Santos went to capital, and headquarters of the colonial administration of Brazil up to 1763.


The Pillory in 1900Em 1798, happened the Revolt of the Tailors, in which men of the people were involved as Lucas Dantas and João of God, and intellectuals of the elite, as Cipriano Barata and other liberal professionals. In 1809, Conde of the Arches began its administration, which went very beneficial the to city. In 1812 he inaugurated the Teatro São João, where later Xisto Bahia would sing its vulgar ones and lundus, and Castro Alves would inflame the platéia with its wonderful lyrical and abolitionist poems. Still in the government of Conde of the Arches, they happened the great sliding in the Slopes of Gameleira, Mercy and Mountain.

In 1835 it happens the Muslim slaves' revolt, known as Revolt of Malês. During the century XIX, Salvador continued to influence the national politics, tends emplacado several Ministers of Cabinet in II Reinado, such as it Hails, Rio Branco, Dantas and Zacarias. With the proclamation of the Republic, and the crisis in the exports of sugar, the economic and political influence of the city in the national scenery becomes less and less important.

General vision Salvador, Square Field GrandeA city is an important tourist destiny of the country. With relationship to the international tourism, it is behind just of Rio de Janeiro in search. The interest for the city gives him for the beauty of its architectural group and of the local culture (music, cookery and religion) THE tourist that chooses Salvador can go to the beach for the morning, to do a walk in the afternoon to the historical center, to have dinner in one of the good restaurants of the city and go dance in the rehearsals of the carnival blocks or to the sound of another musical styles. Or simply to take advantage of the attractiveness of a modern metropolis.

Other great attractiveness of the city is its Carnival, considered the largest popular party of the world (the Guinnes book, in 2004, registered the carnival of Bahia as being the largest of the world). Three forms exist of taking advantage of the carnival from Bahia, one is to associate to one of the carnival blocks that they are pulled by electric and isolated trios of the crowd by a rope, the second form is to be in the cabins that are distributed by the whole course of the spree, and the third, it is to take advantage of the party in the well-known " popcorn ", that is the street buffoon that accompanies the electric trios out of the strings of isolation of the electric trios.

Formed by whites, black, Indians and brown, its people are cheerful, creative, musical and heir of a rich folklore and of important cultural manifestations. The city is recognized by the originality of its musical manifestations, cookeries, nuns and it fights soldierly, besides being cradle of great names in the several artistic areas, with deep national and international prominence.


Salvador é uma das principais metrópoles brasileirasOs ritmos musicais mais comuns da região são o Axé, o pagode, o forró, o arrocha e o samba. But there are also a fort movement of MPB and Rock happening in Bahia, that comes attracting the attention of the Brazilian musical producers.

The city is great artists' cradle, and it is sung in prose and verse for many Brazilian and foreign singers.

The climate is always hot, temperature varying between 23ºC and 35ºC, refreshed by a pleasant breeze originating from of the Oceano Atlântico.

With relationship to the ethnic aspects, according to data disclosed by the IBGE in the demographic census of 2000, 23% of the population it is of the white color, 20,4% of the black color, 54,8% of the brown color, 0,3% of the yellow color and 0,8% of indigenous origin. Salvador is the city with the largest number of descendants of Africans in the world, proceeded by New York.

The culture developed in Salvador, first city of Brazil, and in Recôncavo of Bahia, it exercised decisive influence in another areas of the country, and in the own image that is had of Brazil in the exterior. Since the century XVII is observed in the state a religious duality: on a side, the Catholic religion (of European origin); of the other, the candomblé (of African origin).

Already last century the taste of the from Bahia was firm - so much the one of wealthy origin as the poor - for the epigram (type of satirical poetry); for the fashions (poetry lyrical musicada); and, also, for the religious sermons, practiced from Frei Vicente of Salvador and tends its apex in Vieira.

The arrival of the Africans vindos of the Golf of Benin and of Sudan, in the century XVIII, was decisive to develop the culture of Bahia as a completely. According to Nina Rodrigues, that is what differentiates the culture from Bahia of the culture found in the other Brazilian states. In those, the Africans that came they were, predominantly, the black bantos of Angola.

The black iorubanos and nagôs established a rich culture in the lands of the Bay of All the Santos. Because that had own religion, the candomblé; own music, the vulgar, the lundu; it dances own, practiced in it samba-of-rotates it; own cookery, that he/she created the culinary from Bahia, inventing several plates with base in the oil-of-dendê and coconut milk (everything with a lot of flour-of-war of the Indian tupinambás and tapuias), and desserts, developing what came from Portugal; it fights own, the capoeira, and the maculelê; own vestiment, already forming an alliance the traditional African dresses with the farms (woven) Portuguese; and a mixture of languages, mixing iorubá with Portuguese.

In the century XIX, the visitors began the cultuar the image of Bahia as of a cheerful, pretty, rich earth (because of the sugar-cane and of the precious stones of the you Plow) and learned, that gave to Brazil great intellectuals and Ministers of the Imperial Cabinet.

In the decade of 1870, the from Bahia began to migrate for the Southeast of the country in search of employment. And, thus, those " aunts " from Bahia went disseminating the culture of Bahia, selling acarajés in its boards and gamelas, throwing parties where samba-of-wheel was danced (that, later, modified by the cariocas, it would result in the samba as he/she became well-known), parading its robes and cloth-give-coast for the streets of the Federal Capital. That, in that time, called her from Bahia all the pretty blacks, as he/she affirms Afrânio Peixoto, in the " Book of Hours ".

Starting from the decade of 20 of the century XX, becomes fashion to do music in louvor to Bahia. And there was great polemic when the sambista Sinhô, thwarting, he/she sang that Bahia was " earth that doesn't give more coconut ". From Bahia and carioca, such like Donga, Pixinguinha, Hilário Jovino Ferreira and João of the From Bahia, went defend Bahia.

To leave dadécada of 30, first for Jorge Amado romances and later for Dorival Caymmi's music, it was established in the face of Brazil the image that it is had of Bahia, lasting long until the current days.

Salvador possesses a tropical climate, with rains in the winter and they will see, it arrives the ends of 21ºC in the winter and at 36ºC in the summer, the absolute maxim in savior's city was of 37,1ºC on January 8, 1999 and minimum absolute of 18,9ºC on September 5, 2000.
Points of prominence Elevador LacerdaEntre its points tourist more acquaintances are: the Mercado Modelo, the Elevador Lacerda, the Pillory, the Church of the Mister of Bonfim, the Light of Barra, the Park of the Dunes, where he/she meets the Pond of Abaeté, the Point of Humaitá, the Light of Itapuã, the High of Ondina, where he/she meets the zoo, to Marina of the Rock, in the Riverside etc.