Pelourinho is the historic district of Salvador, Brazil, associated with the UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia. Its name refers to the Portuguese pillory that once stood in a public square, while the neighborhood itself occupies the historic upper city.
The district preserves colorful colonial buildings, steep cobbled streets, churches, and plazas dating from Salvador's period as an important Portuguese colonial capital. Salvador was founded in 1549 and became a major center of administration, commerce, Catholic culture, and the transatlantic slave trade.
UNESCO inscribed Salvador's historic center as a World Heritage site in 1985. Strictly speaking, Pelourinho is a celebrated neighborhood within the broader UNESCO property, rather than the property's formal name. That distinction explains why the district is sometimes described as “UNESCO-listed Pelourinho.”
The Historic Centers of Ouro Preto, São Luís, and Olinda are also UNESCO-recognized Brazilian heritage areas, but they are in different cities. Pelourinho is the canonical answer for Salvador.