Largo do Pelourinho

Largo do Pelourinho features rows of brightly painted colonial houses with ornate, stuccoed facades that stand out against the cobblestone square. This plaza served as the administrative and judicial center of Salvador during the colonial era. A stone pillar once occupied the center of this space, where authorities carried out public punishments for enslaved people and criminals. The name of the square preserves that grim history, as pelourinho refers to the whipping post that defined the lives of those brought here against their will.