Another 10 minutes of strolling along Avenida Sete de Setembro from Praça da Piedad and you’ll reach the elegantly restored Campo Grande, the Centro’s most attractive—and verdant— park. It boasts carefully tended flower patches, immense century-old trees, playgrounds, goldfish ponds, and plenty of benches from where you can take it all in.

At the center of Campo Grande, the Monumento ao Dois de Julho, featuring a statue of a fierce-looking Caboclo (a mythical figure, part Indian, part African, who is a symbol of Bahian independence from the Portuguese), pays homage to July 2, 1823, the date upon which Bahian troops achieved autonomy by expelling Portuguese troops

The monument—and Campo Grande in general—has a strong symbolic significance for Soteropolitanos. Accordingly, a large number of important official and cultural events often take place here.

Teatro Castro Alves, a gleaming white modernist theater complex directly in front of Campo Grande, is where Salvador’s principal dance, musical, and theatrical events take place.