Brazil 2014 - Host Cities: Salvador

Summary (from wikipedia)

Salvador, historic name: São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, in English: "City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay of all Saints") is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first colonial capital of Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the Americas. For a long time, it was simply known as Bahia, and appears under that name (or as Salvador da Bahia, Salvador of Bahia so as to differentiate it from other Brazilian cities of the same name) on many maps and books from before the mid-20th century. Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The metropolitan area of the city, with 3.5 million of people, however, is the seventh most populous Brazilian urban agglomeration, and the third in Brazilian Northeast Region.

The city of Salvador is notable in Brazil for its cuisine, music and architecture, and its metropolitan area is the wealthiest in Brazil's Northeast. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it the centre of Afro-Brazilian culture. This reflects a situation in which African-associated cultural practices are celebrated. The historical centre of Salvador, frequently called the Pelourinho, is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

Salvador is located on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, which gets its name from having been discovered on All Saints' Day forms a natural harbor. Salvador is a major export port, lying at the heart of the Recôncavo Baiano, a rich agricultural and industrial region encompassing the northern portion of coastal Bahia.

A particularly notable feature is the escarpment that divides Salvador into the Cidade Alta ("Upper Town" - rest of the city) and the Cidade Baixa ("Lower Town" - northwest region of the city), the former some 85 m (279 ft) above the latter, with the city's cathedral and most administrative buildings standing on the higher ground. An elevator (the first installed in Brazil), known as Elevador Lacerda, has connected the two sections since 1873, having since undergone several upgrades.

Stadium 

The Sports and Cultural Complex Octavio Mangabeira ( official name ) or Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova ( for reasons of sponsorships name ) and is best known Fonte Nova Arena is a football stadium located in Salvador ( Bahia ) , Brazil , in the same location of the old Octavio Mangabeira Stadium .

FFoi officially inaugurated on April 5 , with the presence of President Dilma Rousseff.17 The first game the stadium was the game between the teams of Bahia and Vitoria, the biggest rivalry game in Bahia , which occurred two days later , where Vitória was crowned winner by 5 to 1.Renato Caja player, Vitória , entered the history of the Arena by scoring the first goal after the inauguration .

Using the same model of multipurpose management success in Europe , the Amsterdam Arena , one of the largest leisure centers in the world , home of Ajax and partner in the operation of the new arena Bahia , Bahia put the enterprise in the global entertainment circuit. For construction of the new arena , the old structure was imploded on August 29, 2010 to give way to the Arena Fonte Nova , that among the projects already confirmed , will be the headquarters for the Bahian World Cup 2014 .

The Arena has a capacity of 48,747 people ( 52,084 during the World Cup ) in three levels of covered bleachers with seats , cabins , panoramic restaurant overlooking the stadium and the dike Tororo , and about two thousand parking spaces . Its structure also will house press room , kiosks , elevators , restrooms , museum , shops and a business center that will work regardless of the games . In addition to football matches , Arena Fonte Nova enable the realization of other events like musical concerts by artists of national and international renown, conferences and business meetings . Their vertical structure , with three rings bleachers, put the closest the show promoting greater public involvement and encouraging acoustics.

Learn more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador,_Bahia
http://www.itaipavaarenafontenova.com.br/