The area now occupied by Salvador the Bahia was already inhabited many centuries ago. First, by local Indians called Gé, who were pushed out by the Tupinambás. These Indians lived here when the first Europeans arrived, at the beginning of the 16th century. The first colonialists to get to the state of Bahia were the Spaniards, who landed in what is now Recife. A few years later the first Portuguese came, and claimed the land.
It was not until the second half of the 16th century, that Portuguese settled here. Salvador was founded, then called Vila Bahia, by Francisco Pereira Coutinho, in the district of what is now Porto da Barra. Captain Coutinho would have an unfortunate death. After being saved by the Tupinambás after a wreck, he was killed and eaten by the local Indians. After this incident, Thomé de Souza was sent to Brazil and commissioned the construction of a capital for the Portuguese colony. Thomé constructed a palace in the founded city of Bahia, the Palácio Rio Branco (first picture of our virtual tour).