The Cidade Baixa — the lower city — sits at the foot of the bluff that the Pelourinho occupies, reached either by the Lacerda Elevator or by the narrow Plano Inclinado funicular a few hundred metres south. This is where the harbour, the Mercado Modelo, and most of Salvador's commercial life happen.
The neighbourhood is messier and less picturesque than the upper city, but the energy is genuinely Bahian rather than tourist-oriented. The Igreja do Bonfim — the most-visited church in the city — and the broad Praia da Boa Viagem are both down here.