Travel guide Salvador

To visit Bahia is to immerse yourself in Brazil's roots. Salvador, founded in 1549 by Tomé de Souza, was Brazil's first capital. Visitors come for its beaches, its architecture, its gastronomy, its people, its culture and its restored historic center, the Pelourinho. Born of the violence of slavery, Salvador is rich in cultural, artistic and religious syncretism: the overloaded gilding of Baroque churches, the spicy, palm-oil-scented Bahian cuisine and the music of African drums. This great metropolis was built like a fortress between the port and the lower town of the slave trade and the upper town of the European masters. A mystical city, Salvador is nicknamed the "Black Rome of 365 churches". Despite its disorder, insecurity and poverty, this fusion of America, Africa and Europe is an essential stop-off point for understanding Brazil.