Salvador of Bahia, founded as São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos<(San Salvador of the Bay of All Saints) is a city Brazilian, capital of the Territorial Organization of Brazil | state of Bay and the first capital of Colonial Brazil. Its inhabitants are called soteropolitans, term created from the Greek translation of the name of the city (in GreekSoteropolis), translated into Spanish as Ciudad del Salvador, composed of Σωτήρ ("savior") and πόλις ("polis" or "city").
Located in the Microregion of Salvador, the city is a regional metropolis with almost three million inhabitants, being the most populated city in Northeast Brazil, the third most populated in that country. Its metropolitan area, known as the Metropolitan Region of Salvador or Gran Salvador, has 3,767,902 inhabitants, which makes it the third most populous in the northeast, the seventh in Brazil and the 111th in the world.
It was classified in comparison with the urban network of other Brazilian cities as a national metropolitan center. The area of the municipality of Salvador is 706.8 km² and its coordinates, from the framework of the founding of the city, in the Faro de la Barra or Fortress of San Antonio are 13 ° south and 38 ° 31 '12 ”west . Economic center of the state, it is an export port, industrial, administrative and tourist center, it houses several universities and a naval base in Aratu.
The city of Salvador was formerly called Bahia, even by the inhabitants of the state itself. He also received some nicknames like Capital of Happiness (in Portuguese Capital da Alegria due to the huge popular festivities, and Black rome, for being considered the metropolis with the highest percentage of blacks located outside of Africa.
In turn, Salvador is the headquarters of important regional, national and international companies. It was in Salvador where the Odebrecht that, in 2008, it became the largest conglomerate of companies dedicated to civil construction and petrochemicals in Latin America, with several business units in Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and various countries in the world.
Understand
History
Before the city was founded, the region was already inhabited since the shipwreck in the Bermejo River of a French ship in 1510 near the current site, whose crew was part of the famous Portuguese colonizer Diogo Álvares Corrêa, nicknamed by the indigenous "Caramuru ". The city became the seat of the first Catholic bishop of Brazil in 1522. In 1534, the chapel was founded in honor of "Our Lady of Grace", because Diego Álvares and his wife, Catarina Paraguazú lived there.
In 1536 the first grantee Francisco Peireira Coutinho arrived in the city, appointed hereditary Captain by King Juan II of Portugal. He founded the camp called Arrabal de Pereira, in the vicinity of where the Ladera de la Barra is today. This camp, twelve years later, at the time of the founding of the city, was called "Old Town". The indigenous people did not like the treatment of Pereira Coutinho because of his cruelty and arrogance. Therefore, several indigenous rebellions broke out while he was in the city. In one of these, Pereira was forced to retreat to Porto Seguro, in the company of Diego Álvares, towards the Bay of All Saints, facing a strong storm. The ship, adrift, reached the beach of Itaparica. In this place they were taken prisoner by the natives, although Diego Álvares was released. Instead, Pereira Coutinho was dismembered and turned into food.
On March 29, 1549, an order of Portuguese conquerors arrived, led by Tomé de Sousa, the first Governor General of Brazil, and his entourage in six different vessels: three naos, two caravels and a brig] with orders from the King of Portugal of found a fortress-city called San Salvador. Thus then, the city of Salvador was founded, from the beginning as a capital city, without having previously been a provincial city. This ocean port soon became an important center for the sugar industry and the slave trade. It was divided into an area at the top and another at the bottom, the former was the most important administrative and religious area, and home to the majority of the population. The lower part for its part was the financial center, with a port and a market.
Together with the governor, more than a thousand people arrived in boats. Three hundred and twenty of them designated to receive the proposed salaries, among them was the first doctor assigned to Brazil for a period of three years: Dr. Jorge Valadares, as well as the pharmacist Diego de Castro, six hundred soldiers and hidalgos exiled, and the first Jesuit priests in Brazil, including Manuel de Nóbrega, João Aspilcueta Navarro and Leonardo Nunes. Women were few, so later, the Portuguese who lived in Brazil, requested the crown to send more women as brides. Perhaps Tomé de Sousa was the first visitor to fall in love with the place, as did many after him. Upon receiving the news that his replacement was on his way, he said: See this? The truth is that previously my mouth was watering when I thought about going to Portugal, but now, I don't know why, my mouth is so dry that I want to spit and I can't. After Tomé de Sousa, Duarte da Costa was the governor general of Brazil: he arrived on July 13, 1553, along with 260 other people, including his son Álvaro, the Jesuit José de Anchieta, and dozens of young orphans to serve as wives to the settlers. Mem de Sá, the third Governor General, who concluded his government until the year 1572, also contributed a great administration. In 1583 the city had 1,600 inhabitants, the population grew rapidly to become one of the largest cities in the New World, surpassing any American colony at the time of the American Revolution of 1776.
The city was invaded by troops from the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1598, 1624-1625 and 1638. Sugar was already the most exported product by the colony in the seventeenth century at the end of which the province of Bahia became the largest sugar exporter in the world. At that time, the city limits were expanded to include the parishes of San Antonio Além do Carmo and San Pedro Viejo. The city of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos It was the capital and seat of the colonial administration of Brazil until 1763, the year in which the city lost its status as the capital of Brazil, becoming Rio de Janeiro.
In 1798, the so-called Tailors revolt, in which men of the town such as Lucas Dantas and João de Deus, as well as intellectuals like Cipriano Barata and other liberal professionals.
In 1809, Marcos de Noronha e Brito, Count of Arcos, began his administration, which was very beneficial for the city. In 1812 he inaugurated the São João Theater, where later Xisto Bahia would sing his "chulas" (traditional dance music of Afro-Brazilian heritage) and his lundus, Castro Alves would be acclaimed by the audience with his lyrical and abolitionist poetry. Still under his administration, major landslides occurred on the slopes of Gameleira, Misericordia and Montanha.
The city became a bastion of colonial independence and was attacked by Portuguese troops in 1812, remaining occupied until July 2, 1823. During the next 150 years it fell into a graceful decline, out of the industrialist current of the country. In 1835 there was an uprising of Muslim slaves, known as the Revolt of the Evils. During the 19th century, Salvador continued to influence national politics, having a large number of Cabinet ministers in the Second Reign, such as José Antonio Saraiva, José María da Silva Paranhos, Sousa Dantas and Zacarias de Góis. With the proclamation of the Republic, and the crisis in sugar exports, the economic and political influence of the city in Brazil diminished. However, Salvador continued to be a tourist and cultural center.
In 1873, the first elevator in Brazil, the Lacerda elevator, it connects the Lower Town with the Upper Town. Since then in the course of time, this elevator has been subject to various improvements.
By 1890, Salvador was the second most populous city in Brazil, and the fourth to have a telephone system. In 1895 the Taboao elevator was inaugurated, which operated until 1961, transporting mainly the working class to the commercial center of the city. However, despite the fact that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the city continued to grow, the rate was lower than the regional one. Salvador began to lose importance compared to other Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, which turned out to be more attractive for investment.
In 1912 the bombing of the city of Salvador takes place, due to disputes between the oligarchic leaders of the government succession: The Library and the Archive are totally destroyed. The damage resulting from this misfortune is so significant that important historical documents of the city are irreparably lost.
Various companies traded in Salvador in these years. The Companhia de Navegação Costeira transported products from Salvador to Rio. From this port it was exported tobacco Y cocoa, with the participation of two former British trading houses (Duder & Brother, established in 1900 and F. Stevenson & Cia. Ltda, its T. in 1895) and a Swiss (Hugo Kaufmann & Cia., its T. in 1908). One of these houses, the Duder, had a whaling fleet, and a whale oil refining plant in Salvador. Brazilian firms, Correa Ribeiro and Barreto de Araujo, also prospered from the cocoa business. On land they were manufactured cigars and it was processed sugar cane. The traditional wine Jurubeba Leao do Norte it began to be produced in the 1920s.
However, despite all this economic progress, poverty reigned over Salvador. The city had to face the absence of drainage in some sectors, a weak health system, and a deficient garbage collection service.
Between the 1920s and 1960s, the poor began to live on abandoned farms located in Pelourinho. One of these houses, Maciel, became a famous center for prostitution and drug trafficking in the 1930s. For their part, the working class lived in Road of Liberdade, Cabula Y Retirement. The merchants lived in Sprouts, Matatu Y Santo Antonio Alem do Carmo. The most privileged classes were found in the upper city, specifically on Avenida Barra, Vitoria and the Canela district.
On January 1, 1930, the Lacerda elevator, after having replaced the two old elevators with four elevators of greater capacity (27 people each). In addition, the elevator received its current facade Art deco. In 1939, the government found oil within the city, and two years later four wells were being exploited, producing 230 barrels a day. In 1945, the construction company Odebrecht was founded in Salvador, quickly becoming involved in large regional projects. In 1946, games of chance and gambling, a fact that directly affected the luxurious Hotel Bahía, a place frequented by the upper class of Salvador. That same year, the Federal University of Bahia.
By 1948 Salvador already had 340,000 inhabitants, being the fourth largest city in Brazil at that time. Due to the absence of air conditionerMany businessmen discussed their affairs in the streets of Salvador, then almost devoid of traffic. Furthermore, the telephone service was poor, so the custom of discussing business in the street was still in force in the 1940s.
In 1949, the BR 116 highway was completed (Rio de Janeiro-Salvador), which accelerated the migration process of the Soteropolitans to the south. Until then, almost all transportation outside of Salvador was done by sea. In 1958, the first Supermarket, the Paes Mendonca. Old department stores like Mesbla and Sloper were founded in these years.
The arrival of greater investment from Petrobras generated new jobs. By 1964, this company employed 24,000 people, most of them members of Salvador's nascent middle class. However, the working class was made up mostly of blacks. A study by the Federal University of Bahia has shown that despite economic growth, the situation of most people worsened in the 1960s. Indeed, in 1961, 7.0% of Salvador's families were considered very poor; but in 1970, this percentage had increased to 16.1%. Among the causes of this social deterioration, the decision of the military government to reduce the minimum salary in 1965. By 1991 the population had already reached the number of 2.08 million inhabitants.
How to get
By air
Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport is located in an area of more than 6 million square meters between sand dunes and native vegetation. The airport is located 20 km north of the Lower City and the road there has become one of the most important attractions in the city. In 2007, the airport handled 5,920,573 passengers and 91,043 air flights, making it the 5th busiest airport in the country in terms of passengers. The use of the airport has been growing at an increase of 14% per year and is now responsible for 30% of the transfer of passengers in Northeast Brazil. About 35 thousand people circulate daily through the passenger terminal. The airport generates more than 16,000 jobs, directly and indirectly dependent, to serve a daily average of more than 10,000 passengers, 250 takeoffs and landings on 100 domestic and 16 international flights. Buses between the city center and the airport are much more frequent and cheaper than taxis. They also go to Rodoviária, the bus terminal, the most important bus station in the city located 5 km from the city center.
There are good cafes and fast food restaurants at the airport. A bar offers alcoholic and soft drinks. There are several shopping centers in the terminal building, which sell a variety of items, including fashion clothing, jewelry, souvenirs, and books and magazines, as well as a pharmacy.
The airport parking lot, located near the terminal, has space for 600 cars. In addition to domestic and regional services, the airport has constant flights to Miami, Madrid, Spain, Frankfurt, Lisbon, London, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires Y Assumption. Its airport code is SSA.
By boat
Being a coastal city, it is very common to use spacecraft, including some routes to the Itaparica Island. The company Docas do Estado da Bahia, the Bahiana Navigation Company and the Bahia Nautical Circuit are the main responsible for this transport.
By land
Salvador has inter-municipal transportation that leads to the cities of the interior of the state and buses that circulate throughout the metropolitan area. These have a central bus terminal.
Know
Salvador is one of the most important tourist destinations in Brazil. The city attracts for the beauty of its architectural complex, its beaches and for its particular local culture (music, gastronomy, and religion).
Salvador's coastline is one of the longest cities in Brazil. There are 50 km of beaches distributed between the Upper and Lower City, from Inema, in the suburb of the railway, to Playa del Flamenco, at the other end of the city. While the beaches of the Lower City are surrounded by the waters of the Bay of All Saints, those of the Upper City, from the Faro de la Barra (in Portuguese Farol da Barra) to Flamenco, are by the Atlantic Ocean. The exception is Porto da Barra, the only beach in the Upper Town located in the aforementioned bay.
Large hotels tend to be located along the Fringe (Atlantic shore). There are also smaller hotels in Barra and Porto da Barra, others (usually less expensive), are scattered along the main thoroughfare of Avenida Siete de Septiembre (in Portuguese Sete de Setembro Avenue) and in the historic center. There are also many inns, in Barra, Pelourinho and San Antonio, and hotels, hostels, the vast majority of which are in Pelourinho.
The city's beaches range from calm places, ideal for swimming, sailing, diving and spearfishing, as well as those of the open sea, with strong waves, sought after by surfers. There are also beaches surrounded by reefs that form natural stone pools, ideal for children.
The tourist who chooses Salvador as a destination can go to the beach in the morning, take a walk through the historic center in the afternoon, dine in one of the many high-quality restaurants in the city, and go dancing at night in the rehearsals of the different carnival "blocos" (local music groups), or to the sound of other musical styles present in the city. Other leisure options are theaters, such as the Castro Alves Theater, the Jorge Amado Theater, or the Vila Velha. A nice option for the sunset is to go to the "Farol da Barra" to contemplate the wonderful sunset over the Bay of All Saints.
There are numerous places that can be visited such as the Lacerda elevator that connects the Lower City with the Upper City, Alagoa de Abaete, the Tamar proieto (about 100 km), Itaparica Island, the Morro de San Pablo, the Church of Iemanya, the Church of Our Lord of Bomfim, and obviously the Pelorourinho, with all its churches to visit such as the Cathedral, the Church of San Francisco, the Church of Our Lady of the Pretos. You can also visit numerous shows depending on the date, such as Carnival in February, the summer festival a month before Carnival, the lavagen de iemanja on February 2, New Year's Eve on the beach of Barra with its show of fireworks on the beach and on January 1 concert at the bar lantern. As you can see, there are many and very diverse places to visit in Salvador and its surroundings.
The Mercado Modelo is the point chosen by most tourists to buy souvenirs from Bahia. In the basement - which is currently open to the public - slaves from Africa were housed, waiting to be auctioned. This subsoil is currently provided with ramps and walkways, so that tourists can visit it even at high tide - at which point the subsoil fills with water. The brick arches serve as a structure for the model market.
The people of Salvador are cheerful, creative, and heir to a rich folklore and relevant cultural manifestos. Salvador is a city that stands out for its music, gastronomy, religion, and martial arts; besides being the cradle of numerous and renowned artists with deep international prominence.
The best known musical rhythms in the region are Axé, Pagode, Forró, Arrocha, and Samba. Salvador also has an important Rock and MPB movement, which attracts the attention of numerous music producers.
Points of interest
Between the points tourist The highlights of the city of Salvador de Bahía are:
- Model Market: one of the oldest and most traditional commercial areas of Salvador, it houses two hundred and sixty-three commercial premises that offer a great variety of handicrafts, gifts and souvenirs from Bahia.
- Lacerda elevator: one of the main tourist spots and flagship of the city, it connects the Lower City with the Upper City.
- Pelourinho. Neighborhood in the historic area of the city.
- Church of Our Lord of Bonfim: built in a neoclassical style with its facade in rococo.
- Barra's lighthouse: It is located in the old tip of the Padrão, on the coast of the capital of Bahia.
- Metropolitan Park of the Lagoon and Dunes of Abaeté: Maintained under environmental protection, it has one of the lagoons most famous in Brazil: The Abaeté lagoon.
- Punta de Humaitá: It is one of the most visited places in the Lower City, it has natural beauties.
- Lantern of Itapuã: Built in the XIX century, is nestled in a stony ground, in the Itapuá beach.
- Alto de Ondina: In this place is the Zoological Park.
- Marina de la Peña.
- Solar of Unhão: A sugarmill, built in the XVII century, currently houses the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia.
- Tororó Dam: lagoon artificial, located in the neighborhood of Tororó.
- City park: It has about 720 thousand m² of green areas. It is a place of preservation of the Atlantic forest, preserves the coastal vegetation of Brazil.
- Pituazú Metropolitan Park: Part of this package is covered by Atlantic forest, being the largest green area in Salvador.
- Fort of San Marcelo: Standing on a small bench of reefs located approximately 300 meters from the coast, it stands out for being underwater.
- San Bartolomé Park: Classified as an Environmental Preservation Area, it has an extensive Atlantic forest reserve.
- Botanical Garden.
- San Joaquin Market.
- Octávio Mangabeira Stadium (Fonte Nova): Main football stadium in the city.
Travel
The Salvador Transport Company is responsible for rail transport in the metropolitan area. The Salvador subway It is in the construction phase. When the works are finished, it will be made up of 28 stations and 48.1 km long, transporting approximately 400 thousand users per day.
The Lacerda elevator, the Gonzálvez Inclined Planes, the Calzada Pilar and Libertad are the communication routes that connect the Upper City with the Lower City.
The tram was one of the first public transportation systems in Salvador. In 1929, there were two systems in the city. The one that operated in the lower city was controlled by the municipality, while the one that operated in the upper city was operated by the Companhia Linha Circular (CLC), owned by Eduardo Guinle. In May 1929, the private system was sold to the American conglomerate. Electric Bond & Share Company; which also acquired the right to operate the municipal system.
In 1930, the Soteropolitans protested against poor streetcar service and high fares, and set fire to some sixty units. However, problems persisted during the US administration that lasted until 1955, when the municipality regained control of the service. In 1959, the tram was replaced by the trolleybus in the lower city, while in the upper, more commercial city, it was completely eliminated in 1960. Since then, the bus has been the preferred public transport for the inhabitants of Salvador.
In October 2007, several tourist routes from buses of two floors in the city of Salvador, following the trend of other tourist cities in the world. This service, called Salvador Bus, began to operate during the second half of November 2007, traveling through five different tourist routes:
- Salvador Praias Tour (Stella Maris Beach - Faro de la Barra).
- Orixás da Bahia Tour (Mercado Modelo - Dique de Tororó).
- Historic Salvador Tour (Farol de la Barra - Pelourinho).
- Salvador Panoramic Tour (Mercado Modelo - Church of Bonfim).
- Salvador by Night / City Lights Tour (Río Rojo neighborhood - Faro de la Barra - Salvador Historic Center - Pelourinho - Municipal Square - Modelo Market - Solar de Unhão).
external links
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