At the bottom of the cliff, the economic heart and the residential districts. Seventy meters higher, the historic center listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To go from one to the other without getting tired, take the Lacerda lift, which has been installed for ages at the foot of the craft market. Perched on the heights, the Pelourinho (pillory) displays its colonial splendours:cobbled streets, beautiful residences with pastel facades and wrought iron balconies, baroque churches... Since its renovation in 1993, the district has become ultra touristic. There is therefore quite a lot of demand there (beware of pickpockets…), but the visit is really worth it, as much for the architecture as for the atmosphere. Turban, white dress with lace and colorful jewelry, the Bahian women seek to be photographed under the impassive gaze of the sellers of acajeres, bean fritters immersed in palm oil stuffed with prawns and spicy vegetables. Old people pass by pushing carts of bric-a-brac, men play dominoes on mobile tables... In the evening, music takes over every corner of the neighborhood:samba, ax... Muy caliente atmosphere.
Difficult to escape, they are everywhere! Without being a clam frog, we appreciate the visit. Former Jesuit church whose first bishop is said to have been devoured by the Indians, the Basilica Cathedral rivals the Baroque splendours of the church of Sao Francisco:walls gilded with fine gold, choir and sacristy in jacaranda wood and above all splendid azulejos covered here and there gauze bandages. Place du Pilori, the Notre Dame du Rosaire des Noirs church, built in the 18th century by slaves, mixes Catholic preaching and percussion on Tuesday evenings behind its pretty blue facade. On the peninsula of Itapagipe, the famous church of Our Lord of Bomfim, stands facing the sea. We visit with astonishment the room of miracles with prostheses hanging from the ceiling, letters of thanks and photos of the miraculous, before buying some fitas, these colored ribbons tied around the wrist when making three wishes. As long as it works!
Shaped by Portuguese colonization and several centuries of slavery, Bahia merges in a clever mix of Catholicism, Amerindian shamanism and the cult of possession inherited from former African slaves (candomblé). Along the shores of Lake Tororo, planted with mango trees, flamboyant trees, fan palms and jackfruit trees, you can see the statues of the orixas, the African deities celebrated by candomblé. Some places of worship (or “terreiros”) can be visited. You can even attend the initiation ceremonies, with dances, songs and worshipers in a trance.
The "Bay of All Saints", which is home to Bahia, is above all the bay of all the beaches! The one where you have to go as much to see as to be seen, Porto de Barra, is framed between the forts of San Diego and Santa Maria. You can rent a lounge chair there for two reals a day, and you can change the world with a beer or caïpi in hand, between two swims or games of volleyball. In the evening, we come to see the sun set in the sea. During the celebrations that mark the end of the carnival, Porto de Barra is transformed into an open-air theater with concerts and music galore, film screenings and a crazy atmosphere. . For a quieter swim, we land for the day on the island of Itaparica, opposite Salvador, where we take the Route des Cocotiers which leads to the paradisiacal beaches of Praia do Forte.
In front of the entrance to Fort Saint Antoine or on the Place du Pilori, dancers-wrestlers perform capoeira figures… before collecting. Invented by slaves to mimic fights, because they had no right to fight, this mixture of tribal struggles, music, dances and African songs has become the emblem of Bahia and all of Brazil.
Here we go!
With Tam Airlines. We sleep at the Pousada das Flores, in the Santo Antonio district, with antique furniture and four-poster beds. Or in the former Carmo convent (1586), transformed into a luxury hotel. You can also dine there by candlelight in an old chapel.
