Brazil · Bahia · Salvador
Centro Historico, Salvador — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Centro Historico is the Pelourinho quarter of Salvador, the colonial-era core of the Bahian capital, with 1549 given as its founding year.
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Where to stay in Centro Historico
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
The Terreiro de Jesus, with its chafariz, sits inside a quarter of four-fifths of a square kilometre, so museums like the Afro-Brazilian Museum and the City Museum of Salvador are minutes apart from any address in it. Salvador spreads far beyond it. Staying inside the Pelourinho means colonial streets and monuments from the 17th to the 19th centuries; staying outside it means the rest of Bahia's capital.
Few places to stay in Centro Historico — most visitors book in Salvador nearby.
About Centro Historico
What are the main landmarks in Centro Historico?
Museums do the work here. The Afro-Brazilian Museum, the City Museum of Salvador and the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of the Federal University of Bahia all sit inside the quarter, together with the Casa do Benin and the Museum of Brazilian Music. Stone marks the rest.
Cruz Caída stands among the quarter's monuments, the Chafariz do Terreiro de Jesus among its fountains, and the House of the Seven Deaths and the birthplace of Gregório de Mattos among its addresses.
What is the history of Centro Historico?
The record gives 1549 as the founding year. The quarter served as Salvador's centre through the Portuguese colonial period, and its name comes from the whipping post that stood in the central plaza, where enslaved people brought from Africa were publicly beaten as punishment for alleged infractions. Pelô is the short form.
Monuments across the quarter date from the 17th through the 19th centuries, and museums such as the Afro-Brazilian Museum and the Casa do Benin carry that history.
Where is Centro Historico?
Centro Historico covers about four-fifths of a square kilometre in western Salvador, the colonial core that the capital of Bahia grew out from.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Centro Historico?
Salvador: travellers who came for the Bahian capital rather than its colonial core.
Good for
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Updated September 2026