ELEVADOR LACERDA

This elevator is part of the postcards of the city of Salvador. People also come here to take pictures, next to the cross inaugurated in 1873, it is the first public elevator in the world. The Elevador Lacerda originally operated by hydraulic pressure - which earned it the name Elevador Hidráulico da Conceição, due to its proximity to the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia - and replaced the slaves and mules of the colony's early days. It was renamed Lacerda in 1896 in honor of the engineer who designed it. From 1930 onwards, electric motors, a second tower and two passenger cabins were installed (for a current total of 4 cabins). At 72 meters high, it allows 900,000 people per month to travel between the upper and lower parts of the city in 30 seconds. Since 2006, the Elevador Lacerda is officially part of the architectural heritage of Salvador. Long lines of Soteropolitans and tourists are crowded in it. This elevator is certainly the safest way to circulate between the two parts of the city, as the street going around the hillock constituted by the upper city - called Ladeira da Montanha - can be unsafe. Finally, the lower city (comercio district) is deserted in the evening and on Sundays, as it is not very well inhabited. It is therefore not advisable to go there when the locals who work there and the tourists who go to the ferry terminal or to the mercado modelo have deserted it.