Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, Salvador

The Church of Our Lord of Bonfim (Portuguese: Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim) is the most famous of the Catholic churches of Salvador. It was built in the 18th century on the only line of hills in the Itapagipe Peninsula, in the lower town of Salvador.

The church is the subject of intense religious devotion by the people of Salvador and is the site of a famous celebration held every year in January, the Festa do Senhor do Bonfim. The church is the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bonfim. The church is noted for the Festa do Bonfim ("Feast of Bonfim"), held annually the second Thursday after Three Kings Day. The festival combines elements of both Catholicism and Candomblé. It was listed as a historic structure by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute in 1938.

The Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is constructed of brick and stone masonry. The façade of the church is two-dimensional, with a central body flanked by two towers. The windows and elaborate volutes of the gable of the pediment of the façade are in the Rococo style. The lower parts of the façade were covered by industrial Portuguese azulejo tiles in 1873. They are white with a yellow tint and were designed to resemble those of the Church of Saint Francis in the Historic Center of Salvador. The church has two bell towers; they were crowned with bulbous roofs at the end of the 19th century.

The interior decoration of the church was finished in the 19th century, and consists of a rich archive of painting, azulejos, gilded woodcarvings, and furniture. The nave has a single aisle. The church has six side altars; two on each of the lateral walls and two at the front of the nave. The Neoclassical main altarpiece, which has the form of a baldachin with a cupola sustained by volutes, was carved by the master sculptor Antônio Joaquim dos Santos between 1813 and 1814; he is likely also responsible for its design.

The side altars have paintings by José Teófilo de Jesus (ca. 1758–1847) at center in place of the gilded wooden images of saints found in other churches of Bahia. The interior of the church has a great number of azulejos. There are 28 large-scale azulejo panels on the lateral walls of the church depicting the life of Christ. They were painted by Tomáz do Carmo in Lisbon in 1855.

The Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim was listed as a historic structure by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage in 1938.