Cultural Salvador de Bahia

SALVADOR CITY TOUR

This tour starts at De la Barra lighthouse, geographic limit between Bahia de Todos os Santos and the Atlantic Ocean with a stop to take pictures. Driving along the Sete de Setembro Avenue we come across the exit to the Barra were the Salvador Club, Church San Antonio da Barra and the English cemetery are located. The tour continues through Lardo da Victoria (were the oldest church of Bahia is found), corridor Da Victoria (area where the Bahian aristocracy lived in their beautiful mansions such as the present day Carlos Costa Pinto museum), Campo Grande (location of violent battles during the fight for the independence of Bahia, today the stage for the Bahian carnival). The tour continues on foot visiting the Municipal Plaza where the Rio Branco Palace (seat of the State Government) and the Municipal Chamber are located, facing the Lacerda elevator from where one of the most beautiful views of the Bahía de Todos os Santos can be seen. The walk continues towards the Terreiro de Jesús, where the Basilica of Salvador and the Church of San Francisco are located, one of the richest in Brazil considered a beautiful example of Portuguese Baroque. The walk ends at the Largo do Pelourinho, a local that mixes colors, races, cultures and history, a place recognized as a World Heritage Site by Unesco and immortalized by the writer Jorge Amado. 

The tour continues towards the Dique de Tororó where the group of sculptures of the Orixas of Candomble and the Da Fonte Nova stadium used both in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and in some matches of the Rio 2016 Olympics, are located. The circuit continues along Vale de Nazaré avenue which leads to the lower city through the Américo Simas tunnel, passing through the port area and across the Calzada shopping district where you can admire the beautiful building of the railway station from which the trains depart towards the suburbs. Just in front of it is the largo de Roma, where the social work of Irmã Dulce is located (a Bahian nun whose canonization was requested to the Vatican). The ride continues along the Dendezeiros avenue and stop at the Bonfim hill for a photo stop at the most famous Church in Salvador, based on the traditional "washing of Bonfim" commemoration marked by the Bahianas throwing water on the steps of the temple in a festival that lasts the whole day. You will pass by the Mote Serrat Fort a place of unmatched beauty where you can contemplate the architectural heritage and the Bahía de Todos os Santos. Following, continue to the Mercado Modelo (Model Market) to appreciate the local crafts with their typical colors, the sea in the background and the sound of the Berimbau (typical capoeira instrument).

MUSEUMS TOUR SALVADOR

 it starts at Carlos Costa Pinto Museum with its collection of colonial furniture made of jacaranda wood, colonial pieces including antique jewellery. There are 3,175 pieces divided into 12 collections: Crystal, Design, Miscellaneous, Sculptures, Engravings, Imagery, Furniture, Awards of Honour, metalwork, Painting, Porcelain and Silverware. The tour continues exploring through Salvador's African history at the Afro-Brazilian Museum, which has interesting exhibits from Africa with artistic works in basketry, ceramics, and wood carvings. A collection of rustic pieces that shows the great influence of Africa on Bahía: Capoeira, Orixas and a series of wood panels sculpted of the Orixas by the premier artist Salvador Caribé. Continue to the Abelardo Rodrigues museum, a Pernambuco collector, who throughout his life put together one of the most important collections made up of more than 800 objects that reveal the historical and artistic trajectory of sacred art in Brazil. The tour ends at the MAM (Museum of Modern Art) with its historical architecture in the middle of the urban plaza; the Museum has a large house, chapel, “senzala” (place where the slaves lived), a fountain and landing channels. Its construction marked the Bahian cultural history and became a symbol of the opulence of colonial architecture in the 18th century. The current MAM-BA collection is made up of more than 1200 pieces, from different languages, traditions and places in the world.

RELIGIOUS TOUR SALVADOR

Leave the hotel for the Monastery of San Benedicto, the first Benedictine monastery in the Americas founded in 1582. The project that inspires monastic life obeys a certain ideal; in Benedictine life this ideal of "truly seeking God" and "putting nothing before the love of Christ" is structured on three pillars: prayer, study and work. Then continue to the Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia church, which was built under the order of Tome de Sousa after his arrival in Bahia on March 20, 1549. Following, visit the Irmã Dulce Memorial with a permanent exhibition on the legacy of love and charity of the "Good Angel" of Brazil, gathering more than 800 pieces that help preserve and keep alive her religious ideals. Irmã Dulce´s room is kept intact with the chair in which she slept for 30 years by virtue of a promise, as well as her habit, photographs, documents and personal objects. Other notable events in her life are remembered through models, books, diplomas and medals. Continue along the Dendezeiros avenue reaching the Bonfim hill, for a photo stop at the most famous Church in Salvador, based on the traditional "washing of Bonfim" commemoration marked by the Bahianas throwing water on the steps of the temple in a festival that lasts the whole day