Candomblé
Candomblé, a popular Afro-Brazilian religious cult, permeates Salvador. Its followers often dress in white and worship together in ecstatic dance rituals accompanied by lots of drumming and singing, or otherwise communicate with and make offerings to the Orixás spirits – personal protectors, guides and go-betweens for people and their creator-god Olorum.
A candomblé cult house, or terreiro, is headed by a mãe do santo (woman) or pai do santo (man), who directs the operations of dozens of novices and initiates. The usual object is to persuade the spirits to descend into the bodies of worshippers, which is achieved by sacrifices (animals are killed outside public view and usually during the day), offerings of food and drink, and above all by drumming, dancing and the invocations of the mãe or pai do santo. In a central dance area, devotees dance for hours to induce the trance that allows the spirits to enter them. Witnessing a possession can be quite frightening: sometimes people whoop and shudder, their eyes roll up, and they whirl around the floor, bouncing off the walls while other cult members try to make sure they come to no harm. The mãe or pai do santo then calms them, blows tobacco smoke over them, identifies the spirit, gives them the insignia of the deity – a pipe or a candle, for example – and lets them dance on. Each deity has its own songs, animals, colours, qualities, powers and holy day; there are different types of candomblé, as well as other related Afro-Brazilian religions like umbanda.
Many travel agencies offer tours of the city that include a visit to a terreiro, but no self-respecting cult house would allow itself to be used in this way – those which do are to be avoided. The best alternative is to go to the main Bahiatursa office, which has a list of less commercialized terreiros, all fairly far out in the suburbs and best reached by taxi. Make sure the terreiro is open first; they only have ceremonies on certain days sacred to one of the pantheon of gods and goddesses, and you just have to hope you’re lucky – though fortunately there’s no shortage of deities.
If you go to a terreiro, there are certain rules you must observe. A terreiro should be respected and treated for the church it is. Clothes should be smart and modest: long trousers and a clean shirt for men, non-revealing blouse and trousers or long skirt for women. The dancing area is a sacred space and no matter how infectious you find the rhythms you should do no more than stand or sit around its edges. Don’t take photographs without asking permission from the mãe or pai do santo first, or you will give offence. You may find people coming round offering drinks from jars, or items of food: it’s impolite to refuse, but watch what everyone else does first – sometimes food is not for eating but for throwing over dancers, and the story of the gringos who ate the popcorn intended as a sacred offering to the spirits is guaranteed to bring a smile to any Brazilian face.
Carnaval
Having steadfastly resisted commercialization, Carnaval in Salvador has remained a street event of mass participation. The main hubs of activity are Cidade Alta, especially the area around Praça Castro Alves – which turns into a seething mass of people that, once joined, is almost impossible to get out of – and, in recent years, Porto da Barra, equally crowded and just as enjoyable. The other focal point of Carnaval is the northern beaches, especially around the hotels in Rio Vermelho and Ondina, but here it’s more touristy and lacks the energy of the centre. This is an expensive and very hectic time to stay in Salvador; all accommodation more than doubles in price and with added costs like paying to join a bloco or participate in a camarote (a venue with good views over the carnaval route and an organized party thrown in for the duration), you are likely to be spending in excess of R$500–600 a day.
From December onwards Carnaval groups hold public rehearsals and dances all over the city. The most famous are Grupo Cultural Oludum, who rehearse on Sunday nights from 6.30pm onwards in the Largo do Pelourinho itself and on Tuesdays from 7.30pm in the Teatro Miguel Santana on Rua Gregório de Mattos. On Friday night, it’s the turn of Ara Ketu, who start their show at 7pm in Rua Chile, while Ilê Aiyê rehearse on Saturdays from 8pm near the fort of Santo Antônio Além do Carmo. These rehearsals get very crowded, so be careful with your belongings. One of the oldest and best loved of the afoxés is Filhos de Gandhi (“Sons of Gandhi”), founded in the 1940s, who have a clubhouse in Rua Gregório de Mattos, near Largo do Pelourinho, easily recognized by the large papier-mâché white elephant in the hall.
Information about Carnaval is published in special supplements in the local papers on Thursday and Saturday. Again, w www.bahia-online.net is great for information on and contacts for Carnaval. Bahiatursa offices also have schedules, route maps, and sometimes sell tickets for the Campo Grande grandstands. Bear in mind all-black blocos may be black culture groups who won’t appreciate being joined by non-black Brazilians, let alone gringos, so look to see who’s dancing before leaping in.
The churches of São Francisco
Terreiro de Jesus has more than its fair share of churches; there are two more fine sixteenth-century examples on the square itself. Outshining them both, however, on nearby Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco (an extension of Terreiro de Jesus sometimes known as Praça Anchieta), are the superb, carved stone facades of two ornate Baroque buildings, set in a single, large complex dedicated to St Francis: the Igreja de São Francisco and the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco. Of the two the latter has the edge: it’s covered with a wild profusion of saints, virgins, angels and abstract patterns. Remarkably, the facade was hidden for 150 years, until in 1936 a painter knocked off a chunk of plaster by mistake and revealed the original frontage, Brazil’s only example of high-relief facade carved in ashlar (square-cut stones). It took nine years of careful chipping before the facade was returned to its original glory, and today the whole church is a strong contender for the most beautiful single building in the city. Its reliquary, or ossuário, is extraordinary; the entire room is redecorated in 1940s Art Deco style, one of the most unusual examples you’re ever likely to come across. From here, there’s a door onto a pleasant garden at the back.
To get into the complex, you have to go via the Igreja de São Francisco (the entrance is by a door to the right of the main doors). The small cloister in this church is decorated with one of the finest single pieces of azulejo (decorative glazed tiling) work in Brazil. Running the entire length of the cloister, a tiled wall tells the story of the marriage of the son of the king of Portugal to an Austrian princess; beginning with the panel to the right of the church entrance, which shows the princess being ferried ashore to the reception committee, it continues with the procession of the happy couple in carriages through Lisbon, passing under a series of commemorative arches set up by the city guilds, whose names you can still just read, including “The Royal Company of Bakers” and “The Worshipful Company of Sweetmakers”. The vigour and realism of the incidental detail in the street scenes is remarkable: beggars and cripples display their wounds, dogs skulk, children play in the gutter; and the panoramic view of Lisbon it displays is an important historical record of how the city looked before the calamitous earthquake of 1755.