SAN SALVATORE DELLA BAIA, ARCIDIOCESI of. — City and archdiocese in the State of Bahia, Brazil. It is the primatial see of the country and the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of S. Salvador, which includes the dioceses of Barra do Rio Grande, Caetité, Ilhéus, Bonfim, and Amargosa. The archdiocese covers approximately 57,297 sq km and has a population of 1,471,905, of whom 1,138,563 are Catholics, distributed among 103 parishes served by 91 diocesan priests and 158 religious priests; it has two seminaries, 18 male and 40 female religious communities. Its patron is s. Francesco Saverio; feast day, 3 December.
The city of Salvador lies at 12° 55′ 48″ south latitude and 38° 01′ 06″ west longitude Gr., and has 380,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the State government, a commercial, intellectual, political, and military center, an outlet for the export of the products of the region, which is rich in cacao, coconuts, oranges, and cereals, and a port of call for several Brazilian, American, and European shipping companies. The city is clearly divided into lower and upper parts, that is, the commercial area as opposed to the residential and administrative area. Despite its urban modifications, Salvador is the Brazilian capital that has preserved its colonial outlines to the greatest extent.
HISTORY. - The Portuguese Crown, having recovered the region from the feudal lord, founded the city of Salvador on the Bay of All Saints, in order to establish there the seat of the central government of Brazil. With the first governor landed the first Jesuits the New World had seen (29 March 1549). Forty years later the city already numbered 800 families and had become a major commercial emporium, owing to the exportation of sugar. This progress then continued unabated, thanks to the presence of the governors. Nevertheless, in 1624 the city fell prey to the Dutch, who, as soon as they had established themselves within its walls, were driven out by the arrival of powerful forces from Portugal and Spain. A new Dutch attack and retreat took place in 1638, after which, with few exceptions, the city was able to enjoy a long period of tranquillity. But in 1763 it had to transfer to Rio de Janeiro the prerogatives it had received in 1715 as capital of the viceroyalty of Brazil, an event that marked the end of its colonial political importance, although it retained great religious and intellectual influence. Salvador was the last stronghold of Portuguese resistance to Brazilian independence, which was victoriously secured in the battle of 2 July 1823.
Pope Julius III, by the bull Super specula militantis Ecclesiae of 25 Feb. 1551, raised Salvador to a diocese, placing it under the metropolitan see of Lisbon. During this period it had the following bishops: Pedro Fernandes Sardinha (1551-56); Pedro Leitão (1559-73); Antonio Barreiros (1575-96); Constantino Barradas (1603-17); Marco Texeira (famous for the defence of the city against the Flemings, 1622-24); Miguel Pereira (did not reach the diocese, 1629-30); Pedro da Silva Sampaio (1634-49); Estevão dos Santos (1672). Innocent XI, by the bull Inter pastorali officii curat of 16 Nov. 1676, established an ecclesiastical province with its metropolitan see at Salvador, which, in addition to the then newly erected dioceses of Rio and Olinda, included those in Africa of S. Tomé and Angola. From that time the archdiocese was governed by the following pastors: Gaspar Barata de Mendonça (1677, governed through delegates); João da Madre de Deus (1683-86); Manuel da Resurreição (1688-91); João Francisco de Oliveira (1697-1700); Sebastião Monteiro da Vide (convened a provincial Synod [1707] that established the canonical regulations in the colony, 1702-22); José Fialho (1739); José Botelho de Matos (1741-60, when he was dismissed for refusing to proceed with the suspension of the Jesuits ordered by Pombal); Manuel de Sta. Inez (1771); Joaquim Borges de Figueroa (1773-78); Antonio di S. José (1779); Antonio Correia (1781-1802); José de Sta. Escolastica (1803-14); Francisco de S. Damaso Abreu Vieira (founded the Seminary and was the first to assume the title of primate of Brazil, 1815-16); Vicente da Soledade (1820-23); Romualdo Antonio de Seixas (a great statesman, 1828-60); Manuel Joaquim da Silveira (1861-74); Joaquim Gonçalves de Azevedo (1874-79); Luiz Antonio dos Santos (1880-89); Antonio Macedo Costa (1889-90); Jeronimo Tomé da Silva (1891-1924); Augusto Alvaro da Silva (1925).
In the archdiocese are the celebrated Benedictine abbey of Mosteiro S. Bento, founded in 1581, and the convent and church of S. Francesco, famous for their gilding and artistic treasures. As examples of colonial art (v. Arte sacra), nearly all the city’s ancient churches should be mentioned, particularly those of Conceição da Praia, Graça and Vitoria, where wood carvings abound, always in the Portuguese Baroque taste; nor can one forget the religious Museum preserved in the Cathedral.