Pelourinho
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The Historic Center of Salvador, called Pelourinho or Pelô, is the old heart of the city of Salvador in Bahia, Brazil. It was the center of the city in the Portuguese colonial period, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Streets of colorful 17th-to-19th-century houses wind around sloping squares and old churches.
See it on the 3D globe →At a glance
- Country
- Brazil
- Location
- Salvador, Brazil
- Built
- 17th–18th century
- Type
- Historic district
Quick answers
Where is Pelourinho?
Pelourinho is in Salvador, Brazil.
Salvador's old quarter of pastel colonial houses around a sloping square, topped by the blue Rosário dos Pretos church.
The name Pelourinho means pillory, a post where people were publicly punished. Enslaved people from Africa were beaten at the whipping post that stood in its central square, so the place carries a painful history as well as a lively one.
Churches and houses
The area is famous for its colonial Portuguese buildings. The Cathedral of Salvador shows Mannerist decoration, the Church and Convent of São Francisco is full of Baroque details, and the Church of the Third Order of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People is a famous blue church built for Salvador's Black community.
The old church called the Igreja da Sé was torn down in 1933 together with four blocks of buildings. The debate over that loss helped Brazil start protecting its historic buildings across the country.
Music and culture today
Pelourinho is still a center of Afro-Brazilian culture, which can be seen in its food, religion, music and architecture. Since the 1990s the area has been restored, which made it safer and brought more visitors.
The restoration also had a downside: some Afro-Brazilian residents had to move away. Many people in Brazil still talk about how to take care of the old town and its people together.
Fun facts
- Michael Jackson filmed part of his music video 'They Don't Care About Us' here in 1996.
- Pelourinho means pillory in Portuguese.
- Michael Jackson filmed part of the 1996 video They Don't Care About Us here.
- Its colonial houses were built between the 17th and 19th centuries.
- The area was the center of Salvador during the Portuguese colonial period.
On the globe
The model shows pastel colonial houses around a sloping square, with the blue Rosário dos Pretos church above.
Nearby on the globe
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14