Bahia, the cradle of Brazil.

The history of Bahia starts at the begin of the XVI century, during the navegations era which culminated on the discovery of Brazil, in Porto Seguro. One year after, the navigator Américo Vespucci was hired to board the brazilian coast and delimitate its territory, fixing a pattern of stone on different points of the coast. On 1. November 1501 he achieved the All Saints Bay, staying for few days in the neigborhood today called Barra.  After 20 dsys he continued his trip toward the south until Rio da Prata.

In 1510 the young portuguese Diogo Álvares Corrêa shipwrecked on the neiborhood of Rio Vermelho in Salvador. He was founded by the native Tupinambás, who hosted him for the rest of his life. He stayed in Salvador until his death, playing an important role on the communication with the Tupinambás and enable the construction of the Old Town. Caramuru and Paraguaçu had more than ten children, characterising  the first traditional brazilian family.

In 1549 Tomé de Souza started the construction of Salvador, building a wall around the city, to protect against possible invaders. The Ordem Jesuita, the main order of the Catholic Church was also very important to the comunication with the Tupinambás. Jesuits, Franciscans and Carmelites built convents and monasteries both within and outside the city-walls, in order to get more in contact with the natives, learning their languages and delimitating the patterns of a borning brazilian culture, based on cristian principles. 

Salvador was capital of the colon until 1763 when it was transferred to Rio de Janeiro, due to the development of mineration on the state of Minas Gerais. From this time, start the decadence of the economy and the local institutions in Bahia. Anyway, Salvador keeps a strong local trade and economy starts to re-generate with the advent of refinaries and chemical companies in Camaçari and Porto de Aratu.