Today was our last day together with our São Paulo friends. We decided to go to the Igreja do Bomfim which is a famous historic cathedral in Salvador that is renowned for its healing miracles. The church is located further north on the peninsula, past the city center. We took the bus with Molly (we were meeting Daniel and Olivia there) from Shopping Barra, but since it is a distant area of the city we had to wait almost 30 min for the bus to arrive and it was about a 40 min bus ride to arrive at Bonfim. Luckily, we have had good luck about getting bus directions from people at the stops and the bus ticket clerks have been helpful at letting us know the right stop. Once we finally arrived it was just a short walk up the hill to visit the church.
The church is not particularly large, and the sanctuary, in both lay out and size, actually reminded me very much of the old church that we had seen in the historic center just days before. However, this church is special because of the many miracles that have blessed those who have petitioned for them there. Like the Basilica that I visited in Costa Rica, this church had a whole room where religious pilgrims would place pictures of the ill or miniatures of their injured area to represent the person that they prayed to be healed. The church is also well known for the ribbon lembrancas, or mementos, that are sold on the steps and tied to the gate (or wrist) with three knots to represent the wishes of the pilgrim. When the ribbon falls off (of the rail or a person’s wrist) it is supposed to mean that their wish has been granted.
After we visited the church and little square we decided to get one last lunch together at a lunchonete before Molly had to head out to the airport. Afterwards we all said our goodbyes to Molly and sent her off in a taxi to the airport. Then, since it was still early in the afternoon, Daniel, Olivia, Angelika and I decided to go to the Mercado Modelo and the Elevador, two other important landmarks in the old city. We caught a bus that dropped us off only a block from the Mercado plaza. The Mercado was once the commercial center due to its strategic location right next to the marina, but today it is a tourist market. In that way the Mercado was a bit overwhelming. It was full of vendors trying to sell you all sorts of beach-y souvenirs. We walked through the stalls pretty quickly and decided that we wanted to go up the Elevador to take in the sea view.
The Elevador is a series of elevators which carry people up from the ciudade baixo (the marina area) to the ciudade alto (the Pelourhino). The ride up costs 15 centavos and is not for those who are claustrophobic. Once at the top you have pretty good views of the marina, Mercado and the ocean. Since it was a somewhat dreary day, and we were all feeling run down, we did not stay too long and caught a bus back to our hostel to watch a movie since it was raining. We opted for a classic and watched Casa Blanca, which Angelika had not seen before. At the end of the evening we said our good byes to Olivia and Daniel who were leaving the next morning for Rio, their last stop before returning to the US.
Igreja do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia
the Lembranca wish ribbons tied to the church gate
The room in the cathedral where miniatures and pictures are left as part of the pilgramage
The surrounding mercado and the Elevador
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