Museums in Salvador

In Salvador you won't find huge modern museums like the ones you'll find in major US and European cities. There are several smaller museums with some interesting exhibits that explain the history and culture of Salvador. Here is some information about some of the ones I went to:

MUSEU AFRO-BRASILEIRO

The Afro-Brazilian Museum is located in Pelourinho in Terreiro de Jesus. The exhibit starts in West Africa and follows the timeline to present day Brazil. The displays are in Portuguese, but when you enter, the person working asks you what language and gives you a book of translations to guide you through the museum. My favorite part of this museum was the room at the end. In that room, the walls are covered with wood panels that depict the Candomble Orixas. These were carved by the Brazilian artist Carybe. Below the Afro-Brazilian Museum is the small Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (Archaeology and Ethnography) which is included in the price of admission.
website: http://www.ceao.ufba.br/mafro/welcome.htm

MUSEU CARLOS COSTA PINTO

This museum is nicely set up in a colonial house and it has a permanent collection of jewelery, paintings, furniture and other housewares as well as visiting exhibitions. Some rooms are set up to recreate the orginal house of Carlos Costa Pinto. Costa Pinto was an art collector who wanted to start a museum and his wife carried out his dream after he died. There is a nice courtyard in front, a small gift shop and a cute cafe in the back.
website: http://www.museucostapinto.com.br/

MUSEU ARTE MODERNA DA BAHIA

This is located in the Solar do Unhao which has a variety of things to do and great scenery. The main museum has exhibits that change every few months so check ahead of time to see what's on display. It is a small but very nice museum with a cool large wooden staircase in the middle. There is also a smaller separate room that had an exhibit of humorous paintings the Mona Lisa in interesting situations when we went. Outside there is a modern art sculpture garden which starts at the top of a hill and goes down towards the bay.

MUSEU NAUTICO DA BAHIA

This museum is located inside the Farol da Barra fort/lighthouse. It gives a bit of history about the different European settlers of Salvador as well as the Native Americans and the Africans who were brought over. throughout the museum there are maps, small ships and other navigational items. I'm not exactly sure what everything was because some signs had English translations, and many didn't! It's good to take a visit just to go inside the lighthouse and the views are great from there.