History of Avenida Contorno in Salvador BA
Avenida Contorno in Salvador was inaugurated in 1962, designed by the architect Diógenes Rebouças, and connected Campo Grande with Cidade Baixa.
Gamboa de Baixo can be considered one of the most privileged locations in Salvador.
Surrounded by a private beach and with a unique view of the sunset on Itaparica Island.
Gamboa – home to the parishes of Solar do Unhão and Gamboa de Cima and Baixo – is bounded by Avenida Contorno and surrounded by Todos os Santos Bay.
Between the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (MAM) and the hill of Campo Grande is the small beach of Gamboa de Baixo, as it is called by the local community.
On the ground, grains give way to stones. Surrounded by a coastal community of fishermen, the site has a unique architectural composition.
Avenida Lafayette Coutinho, known as Avenida Contorno, is one of the main links between the upper and lower city, located on the shores of Todos-os-Santos Bay.
The area’s success can be explained not by its function of connecting the city’s districts, but by its tendency to offer attractive spaces to the public.
The Contorno area has also been visited by celebrities such as Anitta, Rafa Kalimann, Iza and Ivete Sangalo. In 2018, scenes from the soap opera “Segundo Sol” were filmed in the area.
The 4 Monuments of Avenida do Contorno in Salvador BA
Avenida Contorno em Salvador BA03:20
Comunidade do Solar do Unhão em Salvador25:49
Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia - MAM02:55
Praia do MAM em Salvador BA01:55
Discover the main tourist attractions of Avenida Contorno, one of Salvador’s most emblematic streets.
1. Praia da Preguiça: from sports centre to carnival blockade
According to historians, part of the area around Praia da Preguiça was the elite area of Salvador between the 18th and 19th centuries. Houses and Townhouses were sought after by people with high purchasing power. Today, in the 21st century, the beach is seen as a open-air sports centre.
There are footvolley, canoeing, diving and recreational fishing courses.
“Praia da Preguiça has a lot of quality because of its paradisiacal beauty provided by the sea,” explains Clayton Correia, a footvolley coach.
The beach has also become the stage for cultural events, such as the “Praia da Preguiça Fantasy Sea Bath”, a traditional pre-carnival parade. The parade, which began in the 1930s, was interrupted in the 1990s and resumed in 2012. It returned this year after the pandemic.
Another attraction in the area is the Mirante Tropical da Ladeira restaurant, located on the Ladeira da Preguiça and with a privileged view of the beach. It has hosted celebrities such as Lázaro Ramos, Dira Paes and Clara Buarque.
The restaurant is located in an old mansion, where the music video for the song “Baile de Favelinha” by rap duo LT and singer Léo Santana was recorded.
2. MAM Beach combines nature, culture and art.
With its crystal clear, calm waters, MAM Beach is one of the most charming spots in Salvador, combining leisure, art and natural scenery in one place.
Located between the Bahia Marina and the Bahia Museum of Modern Art (MAM), this beach is perfect for those who want to relax by the sea and enjoy the works of art and sculptures by greats such as Mário Cravo and Carybé.
As it’s a small beach, it tends to get crowded at peak times and is open from 8.30am to 5pm. The Museum of Modern Art itself manages and controls access to the Museum of Modern Art to ensure the conservation of the space.
Along the path that leads to the sandy beach, visitors will also find works by renowned Brazilian artists such as Mestre Didi, Juarez Paraíso, Emanuel Araújo, José Resende, Siron Franco and Ivens Machado.
Among the most Instagrammable spots are the Yemanjá Sculpture and the Iron Carved Venus, which attract curious glances and cameras.
Praia do MAM is a real invitation to get in touch with nature, see art and experience culture in one of the most inspiring settings in the capital of Bahia.
3. Solar do Unhão Community: Art, Sea and Resistance.
Located on the charming Avenida Contorno, the municipality of Solar do Unhão is a true stronghold of urban art, popular culture and natural beauty. Its narrow, colourful streets are marked by vibrant graffiti, which has turned the area into an open-air gallery: the Salvador Street Art Museum (MUSAS).
More than just a place to pass through, Unhão has established itself as a meeting place for locals, artists and visitors, offering living art, local cuisine and one of the most beautiful views of Todos os Santos Bay.
In addition to the stunning landscape and the sea that bathes the small cove, the neighbourhood also attracts visual artists, who find in the community a fertile space to create, share experiences and express themselves freely.
“It is a community that has prepared itself to welcome people in a very pleasant way. We attract attention by using our art and graffiti in a different way. This investment in art, together with all the other things around it, creates this attraction in the community,” explains artist Júlio Costas, a resident of the site.
Solar do Unhão is therefore much more than a historical heritage site: it is a place where colonial memory and urban art dialogue, where past and present meet in traces, colours, tastes and sounds. A place of creative resistance and cultural hospitality in the heart of Salvador.
4. The Quinta do Unhão House.
The Solar do Unhão and the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, also known as the Casa e Capela da Antiga Quinta do Unhão or simply the Quinta do Unhão, form one of the most important colonial architectural ensembles in the city of Salvador.
Composition of the Architectural Complex
The complex consists of
- Manor House (Casa-grande)
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Conception
- Landing Pier
- Fountain
- Aqueduct
- Fountain
- Storerooms
- Alembic with vases
On the bridge leading to the manor house there are tiles with baroque ornaments, made in Lisbon between 1770 and 1780.
The fountain, originally fed by the aqueduct, is a Baroque work in dark sandstone, with a frown from which the water gushes and two superimposed shells.
[Note: A manor or palace is the original home of a noble family. The term also applies to old residences of great luxury and comfort. In Brazil, some wealthy, merchants and businessmen also built mansions at the beginning of the 20th century.
Building and site description
- Location: The course is located on a promenade in Todos os Santos Bay.
- Landscape: The course is bordered by a small pebble beach, close to the hillside and the popular residential area of Gamboa de Baixo. It is also close to the Arches of Avenida Contorno.
- Levels: 1 to 3 floors
- Construction: Stone masonry with brick arches on the ground floor
- Roof: Gabled and hipped roofs
- Windows frames: Colonial sash windows that make good use of natural light..
- Architectural style: Predominantly colonial, with period decorative elements.
Original occupation (colonial period):
- Ground floor: Service area
- First floor: Family house
- Stolen water: Maid’s Room
History of the property
- 1690: The site was the residence of Judge Pedro de Unhão Castelo Branco.
- Early 18th century: Sold to José Pires de Carvalho e Albuquerque.
- Early 19th century: Owned by Antônio Joaquim Pires de Carvalho e Albuquerque.
- Until 1928: It passed through several owners until it was acquired by the State of Bahia.
During the colonial period, the complex functioned as a agro-industrial complex, similar to sugar mills, with a large house, a chapel, slave quarters and a structure for exporting the products of the Recôncavo.
Interventions and restorations
- 1946: Stabilisation, conservation and cleaning work.
- 1960: Work began on the Avenida Contorno. The original project threatened to cut between the manor house and the chapel, wiping out the aqueduct and fountain. After reactions from the press, the architect Diógenes Rebouças proposed an alternative route that preserved the complex.
- 1962/1963: The state government restored the building to house the Museum of Popular Art of Bahia. The project was designed by the architect Lina Bo Bardi, who included the famous spiral staircase and replaced some of the plaster in some of the pavilions with plaster.
History and monuments of Avenida Contorno or Avenida Lafayette Coutinho in Salvador BA
