Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BAHIA
SALVADOR AND AROUND
Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim
Largo do Bonfim, Bonfim • Mon 8.30am-5.30pm, Tues-Thurs & Sat 6.30am-noon & 2-6pm, Fri & Sun 5.30am-noon & 2.30-6pm • Free •
T
71 3316 2196 • Take the buses marked “Bonfim” or “Ribeira” from the Estação da Lapa or from the bottom of the Lacerda elevator
The Igreja do Bonfim, as everyone calls the
Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim
, sits on
a hill on the Itapagipe Peninsula, overlooking the bay 9km north of the
centro histórico
.
The church looks relatively ordinary, but it attracts thousands of devotees from all over
Brazil. Though the tradition came from Portugal, Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (“Our Lord
of the Good End”, represented by the crucified Jesus in the moment of his death) is
also associated with Oxalá, father of the Orishas in the
candomblé
religion (see box,
p.213), explaining its special status in Bahia.
The church - completed in 1754 - is not, by any means, the oldest or most
beautiful in the city but it's easily the most interesting. The force of popular devotion
is obvious from the moment you arrive. The large square in front of the church is
lined with stalls catering to the hundreds of pilgrims who visit every day, and you'll
be besieged by small children selling
fitas
(multi-coloured ribbons to tie around your
wrist for luck and to hang in the church when you make your requests) - it's
ungracious to enter without a few. It's always at least half-full of all kinds of people
worshipping with almost hypnotic fervour - from middle-class matrons to
uniformed military o
cers to peasants from the
sertão
and women from the
favelas
.
Inside, note the Neoclassical
retábulo
(altarpiece) and the painted wooden ceiling,
completed around 1820 - there are also paintings by José Teófilo de Jesus in the
sacristy and side rooms.
3
Museu dos Ex-Votos do Senhor do Bonfim
Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim • Mon 9am-noon, Tues-Fri 8am-noon & 2-5pm, Sat 8am-noon & 1-4pm • R$3
For a clearer idea of what Bonfim church means to the people of Bahia, go to
the right of the nave where steps lead up to the
Museu dos Ex-Votos do Senhor
do Bonfim
. The incredibly crowded antechamber where you buy your ticket gives
you an idea of what to expect: it's lined to the roof with thousands of small
photographs of supplicants, with notes pinned to the wall requesting intervention
or giving thanks for benefits received. Every spare centimetre is covered with a
forest of ribbons, one for each request, some almost rotted away with age.
Hanging from the roof are dozens of body parts - limbs, heads, even organs such
as hearts and lungs - made of wood or plastic (from anxious patients asking for
protection before an operation), or silver (from relieved patients giving thanks
after successful surgery). Some people blessed by a particularly spectacular
escape pay tribute by leaving a pictorial record of the miracle: photos of smashed
cars the driver walked away from, or crude but vivid paintings of fires, sinkings
and electrocutions.
Upstairs in the museum proper is the oldest material and recent offerings judged
worthy of special display. The more valuable
ex votos
are displayed here in ranks of
cases, classified according to the part of the body: silver heads and limbs you might
expect, even silver hearts, lungs, ears, eyes and noses, but the serried ranks of silver
kidneys, spleens, livers and intestines are striking. There are also football shirts (the
city's two big teams always make a visit at the start of the season).
ICE CREAM BREAK
★
Sorveteria da Ribeira
Praça General Osório 87
in Ribeira
T
71 3316 5451,
W
sorveteriadaribeira
.com.br.
Salvador's most famous ice-cream shop lies
on the waterfront a short taxi ride from Igreja da
Bonfim. Founded by Italian immigrant Mario Tosta, the
Sorveteria da Ribeira
has been knocking out sweet icy
treats since 1931, with flavours ranging from coconut
and chocolate to tapioca and exotic Brazilian fruits such
as
jaboticaba
, jackfruit and
cupuaçu
(scoops from R$3).
Daily 9am-10pm.
