Salvador, Brazil's Cool São Joaquim Market

[Iberostar Hotels & Resorts]

When visiting the boisterous city of Salvador da Bahia, besides walking through the Pelourinho district, visiting the monuments and churches of the historical quarter and indulging in the street festivities, you should set aside an hour or two for the largest popular market in the city: the Feira de São Joaquim.

Of course Salvador has the famous Mercado Modelo, the best known market in the city and the traditional place where handicrafts such as ceramics, jewelry, leather goods, musical instruments, sculptures, clothing, laces and embroideries can be found, among many other articles. This market consists of 263 shops on two floors. It is the ideal place to find souvenirs of Bahia and to buy gifts. The offer is so extensive that it’s hard to make up your mind! And it is set in an impressive building of neo-classical architecture from the 19th century. Regardless of whether you are interested in shopping, the beauty of the building and the atmosphere will make it worth your while to visit this market.

But the popular market par excellence, the market where all the locals go, not so tourist oriented but interesting nonetheless, is the Feira de São Joaquim. Here you can find a bit of everything: fruit, vegetables, meat, fish … plus all the typical ingredients of Bahian cuisine such as the all-pervading azeite de dendê (palm oil). There are also decorative articles and objects from the candomblé cult, the Afro-American religion of Bahia. For those of you who are not too fussy about hygiene, it’s a good place to try out the local cuisine. As we said, the place is not geared to tourism; the market is frequented by the locals; that is why you will enjoy watching how the inhabitants of Bahia move around, what they buy and what they eat on a day to day basis.

“IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts has two 5-star All Inclusive vacation complexes in Salvador de Bahia: the hotel IBEROSTAR Praia Do Forte and the hotel IBEROSTAR Bahía. Both these hotels provide visitors with a perfect vacation in Brazil in a beautiful natural environment. Here you can enjoy the luxury of comfortable rooms, a great variety of restaurants and bars, spas, swimming pools and a complete entertainment and sports activity program.”

from our blog PassportTo...
photo: Anna Carolina Lima