Cachoeira, 121 km from Salvador and 40 km from Santo Amaro, is below a series of hills beside the Rio Paraguaçu. The river is spanned by Ponte Dom Pedro II, built by the British in 1885 as a link with its twin town, São Félix. Affectionately known as the jewel of the recôncavo, Cachoeira has a population of 32,000 and is at the center of Brazil's best tobacco-growing region. Apart from tobacco, the main crops in the area are cashews and oranges.
The town is full of beautiful colonial architecture, uncompromised by the presence of modern buildings. As a result, it was pronounced a national monument in 1971 and the state of Bahia started paying for the restoration and preservation of historic buildings. However, these funds appear to have dried up and the municipal authorities in Cachoeira are continuing the work on their own dwindling budget.
Cachoeira is also a renowned center of Candomblé and the home of many traditional artists and artisans. If you get an early start, Cachoeira can be visited in a day from Salvador, but it's less hectic if you plan to stay overnight.
Orientation
Cachoeira and São Félix are best seen on foot. There's nothing you really have to see, so it's best to just take it easy and explore.
History
Diego Álvares, the father of Cachoeira's founders, was the sole survivor of a ship bound for the West Indies that was wrecked in 1510 on a reef near Salvador. The Portuguese Robinson Crusoe was saved by the Tupinambá Indians of Rio Vermelho, who dubbed the strange white sea creature Caramuru or `FishMan'. Diego Álvares lived 20 years with the Indians and married Catarina do Paraguaçu, the daughter of the most powerful Tupinambá chief. Their sons João Gaspar Aderno Álvares and Rodrigues Martins Álvares killed off the local Indians, set up the first sugar-cane fazendas and founded Cachoeira.
By the 18th century, tobacco from Cachoeira was considered the world's finest, sought by rulers in China and Africa, and was more profitable than sugar. Tobacco also became popular in Brazil. The holy herb, as it was called, was taken as snuff, smoked in a pipe or chewed.
Early in the 19th century, Cachoeira achieved fame as a center for military operations in Bahia to oust the Portuguese rulers. On 25 June 1822, the town became the first to recognize Dom Pedro I as the independent ruler of Brazil.
Information
The municipal tourist office, in a renovated building on Rua 13 de Maio, should be able to help with accommodation and general details about the town's sights. Another good place to get information is the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (IBGE) office on Praça da Aclamação. Some of the sights, especially churches, have experienced problems with theft and you may have to phone to arrange a visit.
Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo
The Church of the Third Order of Carmelites, just south of Praça da Aclamação and alongside the Pousada do Convento, features a gallery of suffering polychrome Christs imported from the Portuguese colonies in Macao, and paneled ceilings. Christ's blood is made from bovine blood mixed with Chinese herbs and sparkling rubies. The church is now being promoted by the adjacent pousada as a convention center. It's certainly a novel idea to seat delegates where there were once pews. Opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 2 to 5 pm and Sunday from 9 to 11.30 am.
Casa da Câmara e Cadeia
Nearby on the same square is the yellow-with-white-trim Casa da Câmara e Cadeia, the old prefecture and prison. Organized criminals ran the show upstairs and disorganized criminals were kept behind bars downstairs. The building dates back to 1698 and served as the seat of the Bahian government in 1822. The old marble pillory in the square was destroyed after abolition.
Museu do SPHAN
Across the square, a colonial mansion houses the humble SPHAN museum, with squeaky bats flapping over colonial furnishings. The museum is open daily, except Monday, from 9 am to noon and 2 to 5 pm.
Museu Hansen Bahia
The Hansen Bahia museum was set up in the home and birthplace of Brazilian heroine Ana Neri, who organized the nursing corps during the Paraguay War. Now the work of German (naturalized Brazilian) artist Hansen Bahia is displayed here. Among his powerful lithographs of human suffering is a series of illustrations of Castro Alves' poem "Navio Negreiro"(Slave Ship). The museum is open daily, except Tuesday and Sunday afternoons, from 8 am to noon and 2 to 5 pm. Prints are also on sale there.
Santa Casa de Misericórdia
This is the municipality's oldest hospital. The complex contains a pretty chapel (founded in 1734) with a painted ceiling, gardens and an ossuary. It's open on weekdays from 2 to 5 pm.
The IBGE director has many dreams and plans to resurrect past splendors. Clearly delighted by our interest, he whisked us off on a tour of the town, which proved a bizarre experience. Everywhere he indicated renovated colonial edifices as being `quase feito' or `almost finished'. We followed the enthusiastic sweep of his arm and saw the opposite: gutted, roofless buildings with teetering facades and impromptu natural adornments from cacti or papaya trees perched on the remaining walls.
That is the appeal of Cachoeira, a town of surreal faded grandeur, with friendly inhabitants who maintain enthusiasm and hope in the midst of economic decline.
Cachoeira has dozens of churches of different denominations and competition for the soul is keen. Many of the churches are just simple halls on the second floor of buildings. While searching for a particular candomblé terreiro, we stumbled onto a street where several Friday night services were being held. After asking directions for the terreiro, we were greeted warmly and ushered upstairs into what we soon discovered was a Christian service. After managing to extract ourselves, we asked directions from another group of people, who tried to whisk us into their church. When we declined the offer and began to walk away, we were followed up the street by several people warning us not to mix with the `bad people' at the terreiro!
Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário do Porto do Cachoeira
The blue church with yellow trim, up from the Hansen Bahia museum, at the corner of Rua Ana Neri and Rua Lions Club, is the Nossa Senhora do Rosário do Porto do Cachoeira. The church has beautiful Portuguese tiles, and a ceiling painted by Teófilo de Jesus. Opening hours are erratic (although it's usually open in the mornings)—so it's best to phone 724-1294 and arrange a time with the custodian, who may also take you round the Museu das Alfaias, on the 1st floor. This museum contains remnants from the abandoned 17th-century Convento de São Francisco do Paraguaçu.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Ajuda
On Largo da Ajuda is Cachoeira's oldest church, the tiny Nossa Senhora da Ajuda, built in 1595 when Cachoeira was known as Arraial d'Ajuda. Phone 724-1396 to arrange a visit to the church and the Museu da Boa Morte—an interesting museum with displays of photos and ceremonial apparel of the exclusively female Boa Morte (good death) cult
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Monte
At the far end of town, near the bridge and the train station, is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Monte. The climb to this 18th-century church is rewarded by a good view of Cachoeira and São Félix.
Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo
The Church of the Third Order of Carmelites, just south of Praça da Aclamação and alongside the Pousada do Convento, features a gallery of suffering polychrome Christs imported from the Portuguese colonies in Macao, and paneled ceilings. Christ's blood is made from bovine blood mixed with Chinese herbs and sparkling rubies. The church is now being promoted by the adjacent pousada as a convention center. It's certainly a novel idea to seat delegates where there were once pews. Opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 2 to 5 pm and Sunday from 9 to 11.30 am
IGREJA E CONVENTO DE SANTO ANTÔNIO DO PARAGUAÇU
Construction of this magnificent Franciscan church and convent was started in 1658 and completed in 1686. The convent functioned as a hospital and training center for novices until 1855, when an imperial decree forbidding the admission of novices put a stop to its activities, and the buildings were gradually abandoned. In 1915, the contents of the convent and its walled grounds were sold. Despite some efforts at restoration, all that remains is the crumbling ruins, a powerful atmosphere and a sense of remote, faded glory, in this superb position beside the Rio Paraguaçu.
There are two pensões in São Francisco—ask for either Ednaide or José. José Gringa, who lives next to the telephone office, has the key to the convent, which is kept locked to prevent theft.
Praça Manoel Vitorino
Across from the ruined grand facade of the train station, the wide, empty and cobblestoned Praça Manoel Torino feels like an Italian movie set. Try your Italian on the ice-cream seller or the pigeons, then move on to São Félix.
São Félix
When crossing the old Ponte Dom Pedro II, a narrow and dilapidated bridge where trains and cars must wait their turn, be careful where you step: loose planks have claimed the life of at least one person in recent years. When vehicles pass over the bridge it emits a wild cacophony of sounds—a bit like one of those urban/industrial/primitive percussion acts!
Apart from the view towards Cachoeira, São Félix has two other attractions: the Casa da Cultura Américo Simas, on Rua Celestino João Severino da Luz Neto (open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm), and the Centro Cultural Dannemann, along the riverfront, at Avenida Salvador Pinto 29 (open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm).
The Centro Cultural Dannemann has displays of old machinery and the techniques used for making charutos (cigars). The rich tobacco smells, the beautiful wooden working tables and the sight of workers handrolling monster cigars will take you back in time. The art space in the front of the building has exhibitions of sculpture, painting and photography. The handmade cigars sold here make good souvenirs or presents. Admission is free.
Candomblé
Try to see Candomblé in Cachoeira. This is one of the strongest and perhaps purest spiritual and religious centers for Candomblé. Long and mysterious Candomblé ceremonies are held in small homes and shacks up in the hills, usually on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm.
Visitors are not common here and the tourist office is sometimes reluctant to give out this sort of information, but if you show an interest in Candomblé, and respect for its traditions, you may inspire confidence.
Other Attractions
If you have a car or like long walks, you can visit the Pimentel Cigar Factory, 10 km out of town. Suerdieck is another cigar factory closer to the town.
There are also two old sugar mills near town: Engenho da Cabonha, eight km along the road to Santo Amaro, and Engenho da Guaíba, 12 km along the same road.
Festivals
Festa de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte falls on the Friday closest to 15 August and lasts three days. This is one of the most fascinating Candomblé festivals and it's worth a special trip to see it. Organized by the Irmandade da Boa Morte (Sisterhood of the Good Death)—a secret, black, religious society—the festival is celebrated by the descendants of slaves, who praise their liberation with dance and prayer and a mix of themes from Candomblé and Catholicism.
The Festa de São João, celebrated from 22 to 24 June, is the big popular festival of Bahia's interior. It's a great celebration of folklore, with music, dancing, and plenty of food and drink. Don't miss it if you're in Bahia.
Other festivals include: Nossa Senhora do Rosário (second half of October), which includes games, music and food; Nossa Senhora da Ajuda (first half of November), which features ritual cleansing of the church and a street festival; and Santa Bárbara or Iansã (4 December), a Candomblé ceremony held in São Félix at Fonte de Santa Bárbara (Fountain of Santa Bárbara).
Entertainment
Cruise the riverfront for beer drinking and forró dancing at the riverside bars. On Wednesday and Saturday, there's an open market on Praça Maciel—a good place to pick up handicrafts and observe local life.
Things to Buy
Cachoeira has a wealth of wood sculptors, some of whom do very fine work, and you will see plenty of studios as you walk through town. This is some of the best traditional art still available in Brazil. Two of the best sculptors are Doidão (Big Crazy) and Loucou (Got Crazy), who carve beautiful, heavy pieces.
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