Photos

Série sobre minha Viagem a SALVADOR - Capital do Estado da Bahia - Região Nordeste do Brasil - A Primeira Capital Brasileira - De 20 a 23 de Novembro de 2008 - nº 003 !

(Series on my Trip to SALVADOR - The Capital City of the State of Bahia - The Northeastern Region of Brazil - The First Brazilian Capital City - From November 20th to November 23rd 2008 - #003 !)

ELEVADOR LACERDA II - LACERDA LIFT/ELEVATOR II - Another picture taken from that elevator, seen from the upper city looking down to the "Baía de Todos os Santos" (All Saints' Bay). It was my first day there and it was cloudy, but the sun appeared once in a while and it was pretty hot and humid! Not easy to take those pictures because there were too many salesmen all over the place! That sort of irritated me because they were truly pushy! A resident warned me about that at the bus stop: "Salvador has gone worse lately!", but I couldn't believe how terrible they could get! The fear of having my camera stealed was also present, although the place had lots of policemen!

"Funiculars of Salvador, Bahia, Brasil!

The former capital of Brasil during 214 years and today the capital of the state of Bahia is built on two levels: The "Cidade Alta" (upper city) with the historical center - the residential quarters and the trade lies on the upper level - and the "Cidade Baixa" (lower city) with industrial, and today also with office buildings, and the harbour on the lower level. Added to this there are suburbs in the south such as "Barra", close to the sea, and other attached beaches.

To transport the goods from the harbour to the upper level, since the 17th century giant cranes were used which carried the goods with rope winches upwards. Originally powered by gravity, some were electrified and continued in use until the early 20th century. The best known crane was known under the name of "Guindaste dos Padres" (monks' crane), as it was operated by the order of the Jesuits. It was situated on the space occupied today by the Gonçalves funicular.

To connect the upper and lower city there were - apart from the tramways - already in early times elevators and funiculars. Best known is the "Elevador Lacerda", originally two hydraulic elevators with an Art Decó roof at the upper terminal, alongside each other in the same location as today, opened under the designation "Conceição", popularly known as "Parafuso". OPENING year was 1873. One cabin served as counterweight of the other, and they moved at the same time, one up, the other down. In the lower part the elevators continue inside the rock below the upper city, and from the lower terminal a tunnel of 23,5 m leads to the Rua da Alfândega. In 1896 the elevator was renamed after its constructor "Elevador Antônio de Lacerda" (a transport operator), and in 1907 the elevators were electrified. In 1930 two more elevators with the characteristic tower at the end of the extended gangway were built. At the same time the existing elevators were newly built and modernised. With a total of four elevators the Elevador Lacerda connects the historical center of the city with the Mercado Modelo, a former custom house and today a artisan's market. The difference in altitude is 73 m. Journey time is 11 seconds which corresponds to an average speed of 6,6 m/s. When originally built, it served as a model for the Elevador Santa Justa in Lisbon/Portugal which opened in 1902."
(Source: http://www.ferrolatino.ch/FLBBrasFunicSalvEng.htm)

SOME PICTURE DATA:

Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D80
Software: Picasa 3.0
Exposure Time: 10/2000 sec
F-Stop: f/7.1
ISO Speed Ratings: 100
Focal Length: 18 mm
Date Taken: 2008-11-20 12:24
Metering Mode: Pattern
File Size: 220 kb