Leisure and Entertainment

Salvador has a large variety of leisure and entertainment options: restaurants, theaters, cinemas, museums, parks, public squares, in addition to an infinite number of bars and pubs - with the most varied themes and characteristics - nightclubs, clubs, and much more.

Dique de Tororó

Dique de Tororó is a reflective small lake that is also a religious reverence. It also offers the possibility of leisure and sporting activites. Currently, the space has 110,000 cubic meters of water, 25 000 m² in size, 1.6 km in length and a maximum depth of 5.6 m, with the installation of leisure equipment and many attractions such as docks, kiosks, bike paths, paddle boats and small boats for crossing from one side to the other.

This is where is the stadium Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, one of the modern stadiums in which some of the matches of the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2014 were played.

Museums

Bahia Art Museum

Around 5000 pieces comprise the Bahia Art Museum's collection which is installed in an old mansion called the Palácio da Vitória. Among the displayed pieces are works produced at the time of the Bahian Painting School, between the eighteenth and the first half of the twentieth century.

Open: Tuesday to Friday, from 1 pm to 7 pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 2 pm to 7 pm.

Address: Avenida Sete de Setembro, 2340, Corredor da Vitória

Phone: (+55 71) 3117-6902

Free entrance

Bahia Museum of Modern Art

One of the most beautiful architectural complexes on the shore of the Bay of All Saints, the Solar do Unhão Complex houses the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia, bringing together more than two thousand works by Brazilian artists such as Di Cavalcanti, Portinari and Tarcila do Amaral.

Built in the seventeenth century in stone masonry to be the residence of Judge Pedro Unhão Castelo Branco, the solar was adapted for commercial purposes. Its principle function was to receive and export the sugar production of the Recôncavo, and is comprised of the “Casa-Grande,” the slave quarters, a chapel, a warehouse, and a dock.

In 1943, the complex was listed by IPHAN and since 1966 it has become the head office of the Bahian Museum of Modern Art. Renovated in 1962, its garden was transformed into the Sculptures Park, displaying pieces from artists such as Sante Scaldaferi, Caribé, Master Didi and Mario Cravo. The pier has also gained a restaurant where one can enjoy a lovely sunset.

Many exhibitions of national and international artists and various arts events take place at the MAM.

Open: Tuesday to Friday, from 1 pm to 7 pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 2 pm to 7 pm

Address: Avenida Lafayette Coutinho (Contorno avenue), s / n, Solar Unhão

Phone: (+55 71) 3117-6141

Site: http://bahiamam.org/

Free entrance

Museum of Sacred Art of Bahia

This museum is considered one of the most important museums of its kind in the Americas. This is due to the rarity and preciousness of its Christian religious art collection and as well as for the unique seventeenth-century architecture.

Open: Monday to Friday, from 11:30am to 5:00pm.

Address: Rua do Sodré, 276, Largo Dois de Julho Phone: (+55 71) 3243-6511

Site: www.mas.ufba.br

Free entrance

Solar do Ferrão Cultural Center

This center of art, culture and memory is located in one of the most important monuments of the polygon line of the historic center of Salvador, the Solar do Ferrão.

Listed by IPHAN in 1938, this large mansion has six floors and houses the Solar Ferrão Gallery of Art, the Museum of Sacred Art Abelardo Rodrigues and three collections: the Claudio Masella African Art, the Popular Art collection and Emilia Biancardi Traditional Musical Instruments.

Open: Tuesday to Friday, from 12 pm to 6 pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 12 to 5 pm.

Address: Gregorio de Matos Street, 45, Pelourinho

Phone: (+55 71) 3116- 6743

Free entrance

Casa do Benin

The Casa do Benin is a space for the cultural exchange between Bahia and Africa. Its interior displays around 200 objects and works of art from the Benin Gulf region, gathered by the French anthropologist Pierre Verger, who lived in Bahia.

Open: Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm.

Address: Rua Padre Agostinho Gomes, 17, Pelourinho.

Phone: (+55 71) 3241- 5679

Free entrance

House of Jorge Amado Foundation

The blue mansion in Largo do Pelourinho unveils a world composed of the characters, books, documents and objects belonging to the universe of the worldwide recognized Bahian writer, Jorge Amado (1912-2001).

Open: Monday to Friday, from 10am to 6 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm.

Address: Largo do Pelourinho, s / n, Historical Center

Phone: (+55 71) 3321-0070

Site: www.fundacaojorgeamado.com.br

Entrance : R $ 3.00

Palacete das Artes

This old mansion was the residence of the Commander Bernardo Martins Catharino, the most important entrepreneur of Bahia in the first half of the twentieth century. The site hosts major exhibitions held in Salvador. In its beautiful garden, there are four works of famous the sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Open: Tuesday to Friday, from 1 to 7 pm. Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 2 to 7 pm.

Address: Rua da Graça, 289, Graça.

Phone: (+55 71) 3117-6987 / 3117-6984

Site: www.palacetedasartes.ba.gov.br/

Free entrance

Sister Dulce Memorial

The Sister Dulce Memorial exhibits more than nine thousand pieces related to the nun Maria Rita de Souza Brito Lopes Pontes, Sister Dulce (1914-1992), beatified in 2011.

On 22 May 2011 Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree that allowed the Good Angel to be turned into Blessed Dulce of the Poor. The ceremony took place in Salvador, in the Exhibition Centre of Bahia.

Dulce of the Poor was very famous for her social work with the extremely poor, the homeless and the sick population of the Lower City.

Today this work has turned into Obras Assistenciais Irmã Dulce.

Open: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.

Address: Bonfim Avenue, 161, Largo de Roma. Phone: (+55 71) 3310-1100 Site: www.irmadulce.org.br

Free entrance

Museum of the Monastery of São Bento

The Museum of the Monastery of São Bento displays sacred art from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries along with baroque pieces. Among the collection standouts are the image of Repentance Saint Peter in clay, the masterpiece of Frei Agostinho da Piedade, and the Lord of Bonfim dos Martírios, oil on Canvas by Frei Ricardo do Pilar, both of the seventeenth century.

Address: Av Sete de Setembro, nº 01, Largo de São Bento - CEP: 40020-190. Centro

Phone: (71) 2106.5200 Fax: (71) 3322.4749

E-mail: mosteiro.bahia@ig.com.br

Site: www.saobento.org.br

Now closed for Renovation

Ordem Terceira do Carmo Museum

Founded in the seventeenth century, this convent was a stage for significant historical events, such as the Dutch surrender. The interior of the church presents a neo-classic style and its sacristy is considered one of the most beautiful in the entire country. In the historical building one find the Museum of Carmo and The Pestana Hotel do Carmo.

Its collection, organized by the Carmelite religious order, consists of vestments from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, the famous "Jesus Tied to the Column," attributed to the Bahian sculptor Francisco das Chagas, the Goat, and also jewels and gold implements, colonial furniture, and silver.

In 2007, the convent turned into the Hotel Pestana, one of the finest hotels in Salvador.

Address: Largo do Carmo, s / n - Santo Antonio, Salvador - BA, 40301-400

Phone: (+ 55 71) 3242-0182

Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8 am to noon and from 2 to 5:30 pm.

Masses: Mondays at 19:30.