Everything you wanted to know about Salvador History and Culture

Salvador History and Culture is an integral part of Brazil. In fact Salvador History and Culture forms the early history of Brazil.  In the beginning, Bahia was inhabited by indigenous people who are now commonly referred to as Indians. There were people called Ge who was pushed out by people called Tupinamba who still live in Bahia to this day. The earliest Europeans that came to Bahia were Spaniards on January 26, 1500.

After Spaniards, came the fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral who was originally heading to India but to avoid the currents he took a swing towards south into the Atlantic Ocean. Cabral’s fleet landed in what is now called “Brazil” on April 21, 1500.

The failure of the captaincy system prompted Portuguese Crown to establish a governorship of Brazil led by Tome de Sousa and this City of Salvador was founded in the year 1549. Salvador was always divided into upper and lower city since its inception. The upper city consisted of administration and the majority of the people. The lower city was considered a market place. Funiculars and lift linked the upper and the lower parts with each other.

Salvador also became the center of the first catholic bishop of Brazil in the year 1552 and is still the religious power center of Catholicism in Brazil. Salvador was the capital of the Portuguese Viceroyalty of Grao-Para and its province of Bahia de Todos os Santos. Salvador was also the capital of Brazil until 1763 when it was taken over by Rio de Janeiro. By the year Salvador grew into a city of 350,000 and was Brazil’s 4th largest city. By the year 1991 the population crossed 2 million.

Salvador, Bahia was the center of slave trade in the early era of Brazil consisting of greatest and most distinctive African mark in terms of culture and customs in Brazil. These cultures are constituted by Bahia religion like Yaruba – based religious system of Candomble, the martial art of Capoeira, African based music such as Samba, Afoxe, Axe and cuisine bearing strong relations to western Africa.
Salvador is a city with rich heritage and culture. It is a stronghold of African-Brazilian culture. But ever since Jorge Amado arrived in the scene, a popular author who writes novels based on local settings the performing arts and literature also got a major boost. There are also many heritage sites in Salvador consisting of Brazil’s first school of medicine and also country’s oldest church built in 15th century. So huge is the number of catholic churches in Salvador that it is called the Black Rome.

The presence of many universally popular groups like Blocosafros, Eo Tchan, Ile Aiye and Ara-Ketu speaks of the rich musical culture of Salvador. There is no dearth of theaters for theater-lovers in Salvador. Some of the popular theaters include Teatro Casa Jorge Amado, Teatro Vila Velha, Teatro Castro Alves, Teatro IRDEB, Teatro Diplomata, Teatro Sesi Rio Vermelho, Teatro Gregorio de Mattos, Teatro Moduloa, Teatro Nazare, Teatro Maria Betania, Teatro Museu Eugenio Teixeira Leal and many more.

Salvador also has many world-renowned museums, which include Museu Afro-Braseileiro, Museu Arte Moderna de Bahia, Museu da Cidade, Museu Memorial des Governadores Bahia, Museu de Arte Sacra, Museu Gastronomico da Bahia, Museu Nautico da Bahia/Farol da Barra/Forte de Santo Antonio, Museu Fundacao Casa de Jorge Amado, Museu Tempostal and Museu Geografico da Bahia. Existence of so many museums is also one of the reasons why Salvador History and Culture is so precious to Brazil.

Salvador is home to more than three hundred churches with beautiful and immaculate architecture. Few of them include Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Sao Domingos, Igreja de Sao Francisco, Convento do Sao Francisco, Greja de Ordem Terceira de Sao Francisco and Basílica do Senhor Bom Jesus do Bomfim.

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