Largo do Pelourinho

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Largo do Pelourinho (nicknamed Pelô and officially known as Praça José de Alencar) is a public square in the Historic Center neighborhood of Salvador, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. By extension, the area surrounding it up to Terreiro de Jesus is also known as Pelourinho and forms part of the Historic Center of Salvador (CHS), a protected area recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its well-preserved Brazilian Baroque colonial architecture. The term pelourinho refers to a stone pillar, usually located in the center of a square, where criminals were publicly shamed and punished. In colonial Brazil, however, it was mainly used to punish enslaved people, but also freed people. Officially, it is named after José de Alencar, a writer specializing in indigenous themes (author of the trilogy consisting of the novels The Guarani, Iracema, and Ubirajara), Minister of Justice during the Second Empire, and a defender of slavery in Brazil.