Brazil · Bahia · Salvador
Rio Vermelho, Salvador — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Rio Vermelho is a seaside bairro of Salvador, between Ondina and Amaralina, known for its nightlife, its fishermen and the Festa de Iemanjá.
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Where to stay in Rio Vermelho
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
Rio Vermelho has luxury hotels and guesthouses and a busy nightlife, with many bars and restaurants serving Bahian cooking, acarajé above all. Houses still dominate. Its narrow older streets are named after Bahian towns such as Caetité, Itabuna and Ilhéus.
Traffic funnels into the Largo de Santana and can stand still at busy hours, so night owls do best on foot.
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About Rio Vermelho
What are the main landmarks in Rio Vermelho?
The house at Rua Alagoinhas 33 was the home of Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai, and the writer's ashes are kept there; the State of Bahia protects it, along with the Largo de Santana and much of the bairro. The Mercado do Rio Vermelho, also called the fish market, is an old open market on the Largo da Mariquita. Since 1923 the fishermen's colony has held the Festa de Iemanjá every 2 February.
It is now city heritage. Its beaches include Buracão, Mariquita, Santana, Paciência and Sereia, and the Museu do Presépio de Salvador is close by.
What is the history of Rio Vermelho?
It began with a shipwreck. Caramuru, Diogo Álvares Correia, was wrecked here around 1510 and became the link between the Tupinambá and the Europeans. Fishermen held the shore by the 17th century.
In the mid-19th century the area had three settlements, Paciência, Mariquita and Sant'Anna, where a chapel went up in 1852 and the Festa de Senhora Sant'Ana has been held since 1870. The name comes from the Tupi Camarajipe, the river of the red camará flowers; the river, also called the Lucaia, runs beside Avenida Juracy Magalhães Júnior to the sea.
Where is Rio Vermelho?
Rio Vermelho lies on Salvador's shore between Ondina and Amaralina, with Engenho Velho da Federação and Santa Cruz to the north.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Rio Vermelho?
Largo da Mariquita: nightlife, acarajé and the sea.
Good for
More areas in Salvador
Updated October 2026