What to do in Barra
barra
The very tip of the Salvador peninsula (if you can call it that) is the area called Barra. It’s marked by the largest and most significant fort in northern Brazil. The Barra neighborhood is where the beaches begin, and they continue north up the Atlantic coastline to Itapuan and Flamengo. As you turn from the bay side of Salvador to the ocean side you’ll notice a great difference in atmosphere. First, you come down off the hills to sea level. The sun seems to beat hotter and the temperature goes up. The vibe in Barra is definitely more beachy and most of the action takes place on the coast highway.
The Beach
Barra is a busy beach just about every day of the year. It is situated in front of one of the most active areas on the coastline for hotels, bars, and restaurants. During the day, the Barra beach is a place to kick back and get some sun on the sand. You won’t be there but two minutes before you’ll be interrupted by someone selling something: roasted peanuts, sunglasses, sunscreen, and roasted cheese. The water in Barra and all of the beaches of Salvador is mercifully pollution free, due to a major clean-up program initiated by the mayor. The city installed sewage treatment facilities in every beach from Bonfim to Itapuan and you can swim anywhere on the Salvador coast, with the exception of Boca do Rio (the river does not get treated before it empties into the ocean). Of course, there are many beaches that you should not visit due to risk of assault, such as anything within 20 kilometers of Rio Vermelho Beach.
If you go into the water in Barra, just be sure that you have someone to watch your stuff. If you are alone on the beach (perhaps watching somebody’s stuff), be aware of people who may try to distract you from what you are watching over. Some of these misdirection schemes are performed in pairs, so if one person approaches you, open the eyes in back of your head. There is almost no risk of outright assault on the Barra beach during the day.
Sights
Barra is more about beaches and less about sites than Pelourinho. You may also find yourself in Barra because of the abundance of hotel options there. Still, there are a couple of sites worth checking out. First and foremost is the Santo Antônio da Barra Forte, also known as the Farol da Barra (or Barra Lighthouse). It is perhaps the most important fort in Brazil’s history. It was here that the Dutch first invaded Brazil (unsuccessfully) in 1624 and then again (successfully) in 1629. It has played an important role in the protection of the Bay of All Saints since its construction in the mid 1500s. Inside the fort is the Nautical Museum, which has a bunch of artifacts from a 16th century Portuguese ship that sunk offshore, as well as nautical maps and historical documents.
Most impressive is the view from the lighthouse platform, which lets you see both the bay side and ocean side of the coastline. There is a small coffee shop inside the fort. Open 9am–7pm in low season and 9am–9p.m. in the summer months. Closed Wednesday. The second most interesting fort in Salvador is also in the Barra region, called the San Diogo Forte. It overlooks the Barra Port at the end of Av. Princesa Isabel. Open 9:30am–noon and 1:30–5:30pm Next to this fort is the Instituto Mauá (see Shopping below). Finally, on the hill above Barra is the Igreja Abadia da Graça (Largo da Graça in the Graça neighborhood). This church was built in 1557, making it one of the city’s oldest original structures. It’s small and not as flashy as the churches in Pelourinho, but if you want to take a walk in the Barra neighborhood, you can check it out. Open 8–11:30am and 2–5pm
Shopping
There are shops all along Av. Sete de Setembro, the coast highway at Barra. If you want a more formal shopping experience, then Shopping Barra is within walking distance. It’s one of the best shopping malls in Salvador and has a tourist information booth inside, as well as movie theaters and Internet cafés. There are also some excellent lunch buffet restaurants in the food court and a bank of relatively quiet public phones. The best way to enter is from Rua Miguel Bournier. You’ll enter at the arts and crafts fair, which is in the east wing. This fair has some of the same items that you’ll find in the Mercado Modelo and probably at about the same prices. Another arts and crafts fair is at the Instituto Mauá (Praça Azevedo Fernandes 2, across from the gas station). Again, the merchandise here is similar to that of the Mercado Modelo at about the same prices, but it’s worth a look.
As you walk into the main praça of Pelourinho, called the Terreiro de Jesus, the Catedral Basilica will be on your left. You can’t miss it; it’s the largest and most impressive church in the praça, built in the early 1600s, not long after the founding of Salvador. Much of the original construction was lost to fire in the early 1900s, but the church was rebuilt and stands as an example of baroque architecture and sacred art in South America. The church was originally built as a Jesuit school (until the Jesuits were ousted in the mid 1600s) and above the entrance doors are carvings of three Jesuit saints. Inside, you can look down to see the marble floors, or up to see the beautifully painted and carved ceiling. Side altars are loaded with gold-covered wooden sculpture and hand-painted ornamentation, and represent a mixture of styles, from Baroque to Neo-Classic.
Considered the richest church in Brazil, the Igreja São Francisco (also known as the Gold Church) is drenched in gold leaf, hundreds of kilos of it. The many wood sculptures on the altars representing cherubs, angels, saints, flora and fauna are all draped in gold and surrounded with detailed ornamentation in gold and white. The simple gold-and-white motif is offset by the dark Jacarandá wood used in the hand railings and altar pews and a few simple blue Portuguese tiles above the altars. The ceiling and entrance are covered in Baroque paintings. The church was finished in 1723 and has a rather humble outer façade, hiding the incredible riches within. The adjoining convent has an entrance hallway covered in blue Portuguese tiles from the 1500s, and the theme continues to the outer patio area. It’s open from 8:30am–5pm Monday–Saturday.
Over 800 colonial mansions and Baroque churches lean against the hillside of the old city center of Pelourinho. It was here at the Largo do Pelourinho where slaves and outlaws were publicly whipped (the word Pelourinho means whipping post). During its heyday, Pelourinho was the center of Salvador, the capital city of the colony and home to the richest sugar and cocoa barons of the time. It was also home to the country’s most active international port, located strategically inside the Bay of All Saints. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pelourinho is a living museum, with numerous buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries fully restored to their original beauty and charm (there are always buildings undergoing restoration in Pelourinho, as the job is practically endless.) During the day, you can walk the streets, looking into the many clothing and art shops, restaurants, museums and churches. At night, Pelourinho offers up music and dance events in its many public squares, as well as a non-stop street scene that passes in front of the many sidewalk café/bars that decorate the streets. The Laranjeiras areas is loaded with charming restaurants that seat their guests outside on the sidewalk or inside their colonial manors. A number of programmed events take place during the week, like cultural performances at the SENAC theater or concerts by Olodúm and other groups. Just outside the Centro Histórico, you can watch a native Candomblé ritual.
