Salvador's Lower City

Lacerda Elevator

In Salvador's Lower City, the area around Lacerda Elevator is full of bustle and activity. Colorful open-air markets are filled with frenetic bargaining and counter-bargaining and there is a swirl of color and exotic tastes and smells. It’s a great place for photos.

The streets surrounding the markets and port are filled with Bahian women in multicolored skirts selling and cooking food. (Most locals opt for a brown fried fritter made of ground beans stuffed with ground shrimp. They put a dollop of hot sauce on it.) Head to Mercado Modelo, which is an enclosed market and an experience you should enjoy. Handicrafts are one of the lures, but you can buy cachaça, nuts, hot sauces, woven hammocks and leather goods. The building has blue designs and Gothic-style windows. In the back there’s a tourist office. Market hours: Mon-Sat, 9 am-6 pm; Sun, 9 am- 2 pm. Praça Visconde de Cayru 250.

Lacerda Elevator itself was built in 1872 and was remodeled in Art Deco style in 1930. It runs from 5 am-midnight.

N.S. da Conceição de Praia

Not far from the elevator near the port you’ll see this church, which is enveloped in myth and history. Dating from the founding of Salvador, it was originally a straw tent. Its present structure was started in 1739 using prefabricated stones sent from Portugal. The stones were numbered and the quarryman in Salvador followed the guidelines sent with the stones. But things got complicated when he died and the guidelines were misplaced. Finally, his grandson located the lost sequence and the church was finished.

The church ceiling and the image of N.S. da Conceição are stunning. But it is as the starting point for the Festival of Washing that Conceição is best known. On the third Thursday in January, a large group of Baianas (Bahian women), dressed all in white and carrying flowers and pots of water on their heads, leaves this church en route to the Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim. Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is Oxalá, the father of all the gods and goddesses. He sits on a sacred hill about five miles away near the bay. When the faithful reach the church, they proceed to wash the steps in a ritual of renewal and vitality. The church itself is typically Rococo, but its interior is Neo-Classical. Part of the church’s status derives from the belief that it’s the site of many miracles. The “miracle room,” where extraordinary things happen, is lined with the belongings of people who experienced miracles. N.S. da Conceição is in the Largo de Canceição de Praia and N.S. do Bonfim is in the Praça do Senhor do Bonfim in Alto do Bonfim. Hours are generally 8 amnoon and 2:30-6:30 pm daily; closed Mon.

Museum of Sacred Art

You’ll need a taxi to visit two museums nearby. The Museu de Arte Sacra is housed in a former Carmelite Monastery adjacent to the Igreja de Santa Theresa. The two house the largest religious collection of its sort in South America. There are sculptures and images in clay, soapstone, ivory and wood. Many are from the Old World, but some are local. Also of interest is the silver altar that was brought here when the Praça de Sé Church was torn down. There is a terrific view of the bay from the blue-and-yellow tile sacristy. Hours: 11:30 am-5:30 pm weekdays. Rua do Sodré 276, Centro.

Carlos Costa Pinto Museum

The Museu Carlos Costa Pinto was opened in 1969 by a local businessman who wanted to preserve Bahian culture. His collection includes furniture, silver, jewels and works of art, but most interesting are the typical objects worn by slaves such as pencas and figas. Daily except Tues, 2:30-6 pm. Av. 7 de Setembro 2490, Vitória.