Brazil - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 274

the history of medicine in Brazil
(Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5.30pm;
R$5, includes tour in Portuguese only).
The main room of this seventeenth-
century former hospital, the Salão Nobre,
has 170 square metres of painted wood
ceilings and walls covered with pretty
Portuguese tiles. Magnificent views of the
Baía de Todos os Santos are also on offer
- bring your camera.

this inevitably involved the almost
complete destruction of the Caeté
Amerindians. You're likely to see some
capoeira in full swing as you exit the
cathedral, as groups often perform on
the front steps.

Museu Afro-Brasileiro
Located near the Cathedral in what used
to be the university medical faculty,
the Museu Afro-Brasileiro ( W www.mafro
.ceao.ufba.br; Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat
10am-5pm; R$6) could well be the city's
best museum, offering an enthralling
overview of Brazil's (and especially Bahia's)
African roots. The ground floor covers
popular culture, including carnival,
capoeira, religion, music and art through
multimedia exhibits, while the basement
contains the Museu Arqueológico e
Etnológico , given over to ceramics,
basketware, textiles and artefacts from
Afro-Brazilian burial sites, alongside
coverage of the Jesuit conversion of
Amerindians. Across all floors you'll see
striking objects from ancient African
civilizations, including jewellery, musical
instruments, masks and sculptures of the
orixás (African gods), widely worshipped
today in the Brazilian candomblé religion.

Praça da Sé
Rua da Misericórdia leads into the Praça
da Sé , the heart of Cidade Alta, where the
executivo buses terminate. The square lies
at the southern end of Pelourinho or Pelô,
the historic district, home to some of the
city's finest colonial mansions, though
less than twenty years ago it was decaying
and run-down. To the north is a wide
plaza known as Terreiro de Jesus , the very
heart of Pelô, and home to the Catedral
Basílica (Mon-Sat 8.30-11.30am &
1.30-5.30pm; R$2.50), which was once
the chapel of the largest Jesuit seminary
outside Rome. Its interior includes an
exquisite panelled ceiling of carved and
gilded wood, making it one of the most
important Baroque monuments in
Salvador. To the left of the altar is the
tomb of Mem de Sá , third governor
general of Brazil (1557-72), widely
considered to have brought peace and
economic prosperity to what was a
turbulent and unstable colony - though

3

São Francisco
Behind the Terreiro de Jesus , on nearby
Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco, are
the superb carved stone facades of two

GET YOUR FITA ON
You'll see coloured ribbons reading Lembraça do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia everywhere in
Salvador, often with someone trying to give them to you as a “gift”. They're called fitas
(ribbons) and the phrase roughly means “Remembrance of Our Lord of a Good End”.
Originating in the early nineteenth century, these fitas were originally worn around the neck
after miraculous cures. Traditionally they were silk and 47cm long (the length of the right arm
of an altar statue of Jesus); nowadays they're made of nylon and act as talismans rather than
giving thanks for past cures.
Superstitions surrounding fitas are many and varied. Everyone agrees, though, that you're
not meant to buy your own (hence the “gift” pitch; you get one for yourself free, plus ten
for your friends and family that you pay for) and that someone else is meant to tie it in three
knots on your left wrist. Each knot gets you one wish. The catch? The wishes only come true
when the fita breaks - naturally. If you purposefully break it, not only will your wishes go
ungranted but you'll also have bad luck. Usually they break after three months or so, but they
can last up to a year.
Some say fitas identify you as a tourist, but you're just as likely to be identified without the
bracelet, and having bought one once at least you can fend off all the other vendors.