“DUM-TI-DUM TA-DA-DA-DA-DUM”

“DUM-TI-DUM TA-DA-DA-DA-DUM”

(Repeat 400 times)

I was staying in a Brazilian historic city centre again, at the Pousada Solar dos Deuses in the street between the Cathedral and the main Franciscan church of Salvador de Bahia. Brazil may be the only country in the world where I can afford a boutique hotel in such a prime location. They have a permanent stage here, where singers, bands, and Olodum-like percussion groups perform during the day and evening. Especially the sound of the bass drums reached my room well.

Would these people come here to perform if there weren’t any tourists? Where do they live? The same question can be asked about the omnipresent women in Baiana dresses, posing for photos to earn money. Armed police is present at every street corner in the old town, but (or: thus?) it feels safe during the day and the evening. At night, when the restaurants and bars have closed, the streets become deserted. Only the street dogs that have chosen the Cross of the Franciscans as their overnight place, remain.

As the first colonial capital of Brazil (1549-1763), the city’s importance is undoubted. It still has a special atmosphere, though it feels a bit staged. The many churches are its most notable tangible structures from the past. They are still used for services, but during the day they ‘behave’ like museums. They open only at 9 a.m. and a small entrance fee is asked for. The churches were built by every Roman Catholic religious order imaginable, the major ones even have several successive churches and convents.

The best ones I found the elegant Cathedral (top photo), and the Sao Francisco Church (bottom photo) and the adjacent Church of the Third Order of Saint Francis. The latter has an impressive Plateresque-style façade, while the interior of the former is a gilded baroque spectacle.