The Bay of All Saints ( pt, Baía de Todos os Santos), also known as All Saints' Bay and Todos os Santos Bay, is the principal bay of the Brazilian state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...

, to which it gave its name. It sits on the eastern coast of Brazil, surrounding part of Bahia's capital

Salvador Salvador, meaning " salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

and opening to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. It covers , making it the largest bay in Brazil. Farol da Barra (Barra Lighthouse), on the site of a historic fort, stands at the entrance of the bay. The Bay of All Saints is shallow along much of its area with an average depth of . The

Paraguaçu River The Paraguaçu River () is a river in Bahia state of eastern Brazil. It runs from the Chapada Diamantina highlands of central Bahia to its mouth at the Baía de Todos os Santos. The Paraguaçu is the largest river entirely within Bahia. Its ba ...

travels to empty into the bay and the coastal lowlands of the Reconcavo Basin are at its mouth. It contains 91 islands, the largest being

Itaparica Island Itaparica is an island located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is located about from the city of Salvador, Bahia and covers . There are two municipalities on the isla ...

at its entrance. Other important islands include the

Ilha dos Frades Ilha dos Frades (English: ''Isle of the Friars'') is an island in the Bay of All Saints. It is administered as part of the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia. The island is located in the center of the bay. It is in length, covers , and shap ...

, ilha de Maré, ilha de Bom Jesus, and the small Ilha do Medo.

History

The Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci was the first European to visit the bay, during his second expedition to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

. He entered the bay on

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are k ...

(November 1), 1501. He named the of after the date and his

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, San Salvatore di Ognissanti. Initially, the bay, its principal settlement, and the

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule a ...

around it all shared the same name, but they were eventually distinguished, the state becoming simply Bahia, the bay becoming the Bay of All Saints, and the city becoming first Bahia and now (usually) Salvador. In 1501, one year after the arrival of

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human ...

's fleet in Porto Seguro, Gaspar de Lemos arrived at the Bay of All Saints and sailed most of the Bahia coast. The first European to disembark in Morro de São Paulo was Martim Afonso de Sousa in 1531, while he was leading an expedition charged with exploring the coast of the new continent. Salvador was a major slave port for the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

fields of Brazil by the early 18th century. In the whaling days, it was also a popular spot, since the bay was a mating ground for

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s. The northeast shore of the Bay of All Saints is home to Brazil's first active oil fields. The municipality of

São Francisco do Conde São Francisco do Conde is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. São Francisco do Conde covers , and has a population of 40,245 with a population density of 150 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located ...

, at the north of the bay, remains a port that serves the oil refineries at Mataripe. The bay is dredged from the port to the Atlantic Ocean to remain open to shipping.

References

Bibliography

* .

External links

"''Plano de la Bahia de todos Santos situada en la costa meridional del Brasil''"
a 19th-century Spanish map of the Bay of All Saints {{DEFAULTSORT:Bay of All Saints All Saints