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1994
Brazil (Salvador) - South America
Bec2004-09-20 17:50:35
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Salvador
This building in lower town is bigger than some of the Niemeyer buildings in Brasília but it does not squash the human figure into nothingness like they do.
Salvador, founded in 1549 on the easily defendable heights of upper town, soon became the capital of a prosperous colony exporting Brazil-wood and cane sugar. Portuguese plantation owners imported thousands of African slaves to work the cane fields and sired corresponding numbers of mulatto offspring from which today's local population have descended.
I readily admit my bias in favour of this small Terreiro de Jesus instead of the huge dehumanising administrative square in Brasília.
With time, cattle raising, tobacco growing and the mining of gold and diamonds all added to the city's prosperity which is reflected in Salvador's bourgeois houses.
The old buildings in the narrow streets around the square were being restored, taking care to give each one a distinctive identity harmoniously blending into a collective style.
Salvador remained the capital of Brazil until 1763 when it was moved to Rio de Janeiro. The city then went into a long decline surviving on inefficient agricultural systems but now, recent developments in the chemical and tourist industries have now reversed that trend and finance the restoration of Salvador's historical monuments.
Barra
Salvador is built on a peninsula almost closing a great natural harbour, the Baía de Todos os Santos, that was discovered by Amérigo Vespucci in 1501. The little fort and lighthouse of Barra stand at the tip of that peninsula.
The tourist industry has become a major employer and source of wealth in the last few decades.
Itapoá
The Atlantic sea front offers a succession of great beaches like this one at Itapoă, 30 km east of Salvador.
The beaches, good food,
...
See photographs from:
Brazil Gallery
