Salvador, Bahia  Salvador (English: "Savior"), also known as São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos (English: "Holy Savior of the Bay of All Saints"), is the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. With 2.9 million people (2017), it is the largest city proper in the Northeast Region and the 4th largest city proper in the country, after São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. Founded by the Portuguese in 1549 as the first capital of Brazil, Salvador is one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas. A sharp escarpment divides its Lower Town (') from its Upper Town (') by some . The ', Brazil's first urban elevator, has connected the two since 1873. The Pelourinho district of the upper town, still home to many examples of Portuguese colonial architecture and historical monuments, was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. The city's cathedral is the see of the primate of Brazil and its Carnival celebration has been reckoned as the largest party in the world. Salvador was one of the first slave ports in the Americas and the African influence of the slaves' descendants makes it a center of Afro-Brazilian (') culture. The city is noted for its cuisine, music, dance and architecture. Porto da Barra Beach in Barra has been named one of the best beaches in the world. Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova was the site of the city's games during the 2014 Brazilian World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup. Salvador forms the heart of the ", Bahia's rich agricultural and industrial maritime district, and continues to be a major Brazilian port. Its metropolitan area, housing 3 899 533 people (2018) forms the wealthiest one in Brazil's Northeast Region (2015). Salvador lies on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates the Bay of All Saints, the largest bay in Brazil, from the Atlantic Ocean. It was first reached by Gaspar de Lemos in 1501, just one year after Cabral's purported discovery of Brazil. During his second voyage for Portugal, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci sighted the bay on All Saints' Day (1 November) 1502 and, in honor of the date and his parish church in Florence, he named it the Bay of the Holy Savior of All the Saints. The first European to settle nearby was Diogo Álvares Correia ("Caramuru"), who was shipwrecked off the end of the peninsula in 1509.