As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549 to 1763, Salvador de Bahia witnessed the blending of European, African and Amerindian cultures. It was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations. The city has managed to preserve many outstanding Renaissance buildings. A special feature of the old town are the brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work.

 
         
 

Walking on the streets of the Historical District of Salvador, we feel like being taken back to the ancient times of Brazilian History. The tour guides are very well prepared to explain how the colonization of this city happened. Until 1763, Salvador was the capital of the Portuguese Crown in Americas, besides being the main port of the southern hemisphere until the eighteenth century.

With an extensive shoreline and a constant year round temperature (around 25º C/ 77º F), Salvador is an invitation to outdoor leisure activities. The city’s tropical climate is enhanced by steady gentle breeze blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean and the All Saints’ Bay. With approximately 50 Km of beaches and one third of the shores of the All Saints’ Bay, Salvador is the ideal location for relaxing seaside vacations and the practice of water sports.

Salvador is considered the cultural capital of Brazil. Its people is formed by native Americans, Portuguese and Africans and present a unique ethnic and cultural diversity that stands out for its harmonious and democratic coexistence, rarely found in the world today. The particular traits of each ethnic group that forms the city’s population create original music, dance and many other artistic and cultural expressions.

There are two neighborhoods in Salvador that just about every visitor gets to know. One is Pelourinho ( Pillory) , which has its own "chapter" in the "Table of Contents", and the other is Barra ( Bar , as in reef , and pronounced "BA-ha"), which has a number of hotels and the two beaches closest to the city center (moving out towards the Atlantic, and with the exception of some very small beaches frequented only by very local people).