It extends from the Bahia Marina at its southernmost point to the breakwaters near the Port of Salvador in the Água de Meninos district to the north.

The district includes São Marcelo Fort, a 17th-century military structure on a small piece of land 300 metres (980 ft) from the coast.

Cross streets in the district are named for Sweden, Norway, Spain, Holland, Poland, Argentina, England, Greece, and Belgium.

Avenida Lafayete Coutinho begins at the plaza and runs south along the Bay of All Saints out of the district to Praça Dois de Julho.

The Ladeira da Montanha was constructed in the 19th century to connect the lower and upper city; it was also home to a red-light district.

[2] Comércio, in the period as the Cidade Baixa, consisted of a narrow street that ran from the port to the avenue that led to the upper city.

The area was home to the warehouses of the city and was the commercial center for both colonial Portuguese and foreign merchants, notably those in the slave trade.

Graham described the slave market as "there are shops full of those poor wretches, who are exposed there stark naked and bought like cattle, over whom the buyers have the same power."