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Cidade
Alta
One of the origin places of Brazilian colonization by Portuguese
after discovering. It concentrates row houses and churches from
XVI century that were lately modified. At Igreja da Misericórdia
(Misericórdia Church), is Museu de Arte Sacra (Sacred Art
Museum) that especially detaches the picture of São Francisco
de Assis, the first brought to Brazil, in 1503. Museu Histórico
da Cidade (Historical Museum of the City) is situated in the building
where there was a prison in XVIII century. Museu Casa Colonial (Colonial
House Museum), which reproduces Portuguese house at the beginning
of the colonization. It also can be seen Marco do Descobrimento,
a stone block sculptured with Portuguese blazons and that determined
territory appropriation. Another local attraction is the wonderful
panoramic view.
Beaches
All paths lead to Porto Seguro, an entry gate and start point for
those who wish to learn about the first pages of Brazil's history,
practice ecotourism and sports - radical or not -, walk around,
eat well, learn ""lambaeróbica"" or just
relax. It is an ecological paradise that offers a mixture of history,
culture, art and natural beauties.
There
are 90km of beaches protected by coral reefs, in addition to bays,
rivers and water streams, coconut trees and the exuberant Atlantic
Forest. Receptive tourism agencies organize ecological tours that
may take from 3 hours to a whole day or even longer. The most frequent
tours are to Recife de Fora, Coroa Alta, Trancoso
and Caraiva For those who love flying, the local ultralight club
provides them with the chance to see, by ultralight or helicopter
flying, from a different point-of-view, the setting of the entire
Brazilian "Discovery Coast".
The
city never sleeps, and works virtually 24 hours a day. During the
day, one can go to the beaches or walk through the sea and the woods.
And the night life is very exciting. Invariably, the night begins
at Passarela do Álcool (Alcohol Aisle), where dozens of tents
are put up, selling a wide variety of fruit cocktails and "capetas"
- drinks made of fruit juice and vodka. Tent decoration pays special
attention to fruit arrangements, which catch the tourists' eye and
win customers.
Shops
open at peculiar hours in Porto Seguro: many malls and handicraft
stores are open until midnight . For those who like sophistication
there are restaurants that specialize in French, Japanese, Italian
cuisine and so on. For those who want to eat well but more cheaply
the restaurants where you weigh your food offer the best options
in the city center or along the coast, with a variety of hot dishes
and salads, as well as desserts.
At
night, stay on the coast for lots of reggae, parties and live music
in most of the restaurants and beach stalls. Various larger stalls
offer shows with national and international attractions.
Boat
sailings
A great choice is sailing to Recife de Fora Sea Park, when the tide
is down. At this moment, they are formed natural aquariums in coral
reefs and the visitant can observe fishes, turtles and mollusks.
The park keeps 17,5 km² of corals and only few of them can
be visited. The sailing takes 4 hours. Passarela do Álcool
(Alcohol Runway) At night or even in early morning, many people
walk by Passarela do Álcool, a sidewalk with bars and restaurants
that put their tables outside, and little tents that serve delicious
drinks with tropical fruits. In this cheerful atmosphere there are
exhibitions from local musicians.
Night
Leisure
The Passarela
do Álcool Passageway is an obligatory stop to all visitors.
There, visitors find the famous "Capeta” drink, can have
dinner with live music and buy gifts made in the region; or visitors
may go to Capitania dos Peixes, on Pacu Island, with ecological
landscapes and an assorted variety of music genres and ambiences,
near giant aquariums.
Monte
Pascoal National Park
Created in 1961 to preserve the place where Brazil was “discovered”
by Portuguese warriors. It includes swamp areas, salt marshes, river
marshes and a coastline around the rocky, high and round hill, considered
the first point of land to be seen by the Portuguese traveler Pedro
Álvares Cabral’s crew. It extends over an area of 14,480
hectares, including the Pataxó tribe’s indigenous protection
land. Besides its historical importance, it also offers protection
to one of the last stretches of Atlantic forest in the Northeastern
area of Brazil. The area is aimed at preserving valuable woods such
as Brazil wood, and still hosts many species of animals threatened
by extinction, such as “collar sloth”, “black
burs”, among others.
Recife
de For a Sea Park
It was the first city owned park in Brazil. During low tide, visitor
can view a wide range of coral reefs, fish and many sea species.
Tours are available on schooners.
Glória
Hillock
Here, visitors find the ruins of what many consider to be the São
Francisco Church, the where Ynaiá was buried, an Indian woman
who died for the love of a crewmember of Portuguese navigator Gonçalo
Coelho‘s fleet. People say the São Francisco Church
was the first one built in Brazil, in baroque style, probably in
1504, whose ruins date to 1730.
The
Nossa Senhora da Penha Matrix Church
Located on Pero de Campos Tourinho Square, in Cidade Alta, it was
built at the 18th century’s end. It comprises an aisle, a
main chapel, a sacristy and a bell tower.
Jaqueira
Indigenous Protection Reservation
A huge jackfruit tree trunk, tumbled down by nature itself, represents
the return to one’s origins and acts as a historical and cultural
reference to honor the ancestral fathers and mothers of Pataxó
families who recently moved into this 827-hectare Indian protection
area. Their huts, spread around original Atlantic Forest woods,
keeps original old formats, giving visitors the impression of being
back 500 years in time to pre-Colombian Brazil.
Pirata
Island
It is considered as one of the most sophisticated aquarium complexes
in South America. Pirata Island is a thematic leisure center combining
nightlife infrastructure and environmental and sea biodiversity
protection, with giant aquariums. It is located on Pacuio Island,
on Buranhém River and access is available exclusively by
boat.
The
“Discovery” Outdoors Museum
An outdoors, natural museum, whose “art galleries” are
its beaches, valleys and natural trails and whose “collection”
is a set of geographical formations and traditional villages, disposed
as art works in permanent exhibition, engraved in very ancient media,
which are spread along the 130-km length of Bahia’s historical
southern coastline.
Terravista
Golf Course
The golf course, designed by architect Dan Blankenship, offers 18
holes and demanded US$ 4 million in investment to be built. The
project follows the most sophisticated and up to date trends in
golf course building in the world today, as done in California,
USA, and in Algarve, Portugal – all of which look very similar
in terms of weather and geographical conditions, for all three golf
courses are close to sea areas.
Schooner
Rides
Local companies offer tours to Recife de Fora (“The Outer
Sea Coral Reef”), the Coroa Alta Coral Reef, to Caraíva,
Trancoso, Abrolhos and Paraíso
Island.
Trancoso
Located on the top of a hillock, this small 16th century village
founded by Portuguese Jesuits today is an ideal hideout to run away
from big city strife and stress. It offers 12 Km of beaches uniting
Arraial d'Ajuda and Trancoso,
a length that can be covered on a walk along the beach, or by bus
or by car, on an unpaved road departing from Arraial. Quadrado Square
is the main meeting point in the city, where everything happens.
The city offers rustic and sophisticated restaurants, inns, bars
and handcrafts stores, all of which help keep the exciting mood
of the place. This square also hosts the headquarters of The Discovery
Square Foundation (Fundação Quadrilátero do
Descobrimento) and the São João Batista Church.
Arraial
D'Ajuda Village
Popular among hippies in the 1970’s, Arraial
D’Ajuda has won international fame due to its
elegant simplicity. Seduced by its special atmosphere,
adventurers from all corners of the world have settled
there, turning Arraial into a “corner of the world”,
as people call it. |
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