Salvador - Lower Town Cidade Baixa

Carlos Costa Pinto Museum

On Avenida 7 de Setembro is the Carlos Costa Pinto Museum, which displays silver and furnishings of the 17th-19th centuries, gold jewelry, pictures, porcelain and a large collection of balangandãs (decorative brooches worn by the women of Bahia).

From Praça Cairu a boat can be taken to Forte São Marcelo (or Forte do Mar), built in 1623 by the military architect Francisco Frias, who was also responsible for Forte São Diogo (1609-12) in Salvador and the imposing Forte dos Reis Magos (1614) in Natal. Forte São Marcelo, on a large platform lying off the harbor, was completed by the Dutch, who occupied Salvador from May 1624 to May 1625.

One place of interest in the lower town is the Mercado Modelo, where local craft products, Afro-Brazilian cult objects and many other curiosities can be bought. The Mercado Modelo, in the old Custom House on Praça Visconde de Cairu, was rebuilt in 1984 after a fire.

One place of interest in the lower town is the Mercado São Joaquim in Agua de Meninos, where craft products can be bought.

Opposite Forte São Pedro is the Palácio da Aclamação (1917), which until 1967 was the residence of the Governor of Bahia. The palace has beautiful gardens and a luxurious interior in Louis XIV and Rococo style. Although the building is still used for the reception of heads of state and other official guests, it is open to the public as a museum.

On Avenida Lafayete, which runs south-west along the coast, is the Solar do Unhão, a colonial-period building which now houses the Museum of Modern Art.

In Largo do Campo Grande, one of the city's busiest traffic intersections, is a monument commemorating the victorious Brazilian forces who entered the town on July 2nd 1823 after defeating the Portuguese in the battle of Pirajá in November 1822 and raising the siege of Salvador.

Some 500m/550yds beyond the Solar do Unhão, on the Praia da Gamboa, are the ruins of the 18th century fort of São Paulo da Gamboa. Inland, on the south side of Rua Gamboa de Cima, is the imposing Forte São Pedro, which also dates from the 18th century.

Forte Santo Antônio

Two 18th century forts in Porto da Barra, São Diogo and Santa Marta, are not open to the public, but Forte Santo Antônio da Barra, at the Farol da Barra, can be visited; it now contains the Museum of Hydrography.

North-west of the Mangabeira Stadium is the church of the Desterro (or Santa Clara) Convent (1675), the first nunnery established in Brazil, with an onion-domed tower. Close by, on Largo da Pólvora, is the Rui Barbosa Forum, with a vault containing the tomb of the lawyer and writer Rui Barbosa (1849-1923).

On Avenida Joana Angélica, which runs uphill from Largo da Pólvora, are the Lapa church and convent (1744). Sister Joana Angélica was murdered here when she denied admittance to Portuguese troops searching for members of the Independência movement. The scallop-shaped high altar in the church is crowned by a baldachin.

On Praça da Piedade, are the church and convent of Nossa Senhora da Piedade (1683), the Library of the Gabinete Português de Leitura (1823) and the Museum of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Bahia (folk art and ethnography).

Some distance north-east of the Campo Grande is the Estádio Otávio Mangabeira or Fonte Nova Stadium.

On Avenida 7 de Setembro is the State Geological Museum.

On Avenida Vasco da Gama, which links the central district of Tororó to the south with the Rio Vermelho and Amaralina districts to the east, is the Terreiro da Casa Branca, the oldest Candomblé cult center in Bahia.

To the north of the Palácio da Aclamação are the Vila Velha Theatre and the Gamboa Theatre. The large Castro Alves Theatre lies south-east of the palace, near Largo do Campo Grande.