 The city of Salvador served as the seat for the Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil for its first two centuries and is usually called the "first capital of Brazil"

Salvador was established in 1549 by the first Governor-General of Portuguese South America shortly after colonization began.The city became the seat of the first Catholic bishopric of Brazil in 1552 and is still the center of Brazilian Catholicism.In the 17th century, Rio de Janeiro became a far more practical export port than Salvador, and the colonial administration was moved in 1763.