Before 1510, there was a settlement with Europeans in the
area, that became a village in 1536, called Vila do Pereira. In 1549, the Cidade
do Salvador was built nearby, inside a fortress, by Thomé de Sousa, the first
governor-general. The city was planned and founded to be the first capital of
Brazil. It was also the first city of the country,
there was only villages before. Only the king could grant the title of "city" at
that time.
In 1551, the pope established in Salvador the first diocese of Brazil with the name of São Salvador da Bahia. Since then, the city is also known by that name.
In 1624, Salvador was invaded by the Dutch, but expelled the following year. Then, in the 18th century, it became one of the most fortified cities in the world. In 1763, the Brazilian capital was removed to Rio de Janeiro. Salvador continued as the ecclesiastical seat of the whole country until 1892.
On January 23, 1808, Prince Regent D. João arrived in Salvador, which became the seat of the Portuguese Court for over a month. Here, Brazil's first adaptation measures were taken to house the Court.
In Salvador, the War of Independence begin 1821 and ended on July 2, 1823. Bahia was the main stage of the war.
In 1832, Charles Darwin and the Beagle expedition arrived in Salvador and Darwin loved the city. The Beagle returned in 1836.
In 1873, Salvador gained one of its most famous constructions: the Elevador Lacerda, one of the most important projects of Brazilian engineering in the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century, Salvador continued to be a commercial center of international importance.
In 1939, Brazil's first oil well gushed in Lobato, a neighborhood of Salvador.
