Lauro de Freitas

Lauro de Freitas is a municipality in Greater Salvador, Bahia, positioned along the North Coast between the state capital and Camaçari. The territory runs from the Joanes River to the Atlantic Ocean and includes several beaches and residential neighborhoods spread along the shoreline.

The area remained part of a neighboring district until the early 1960s, when it became an independent municipality. The name honors an engineer involved in regional development work.

The Mother Church of Santo Amaro de Ipitanga stands as a seventeenth-century colonial monument connected to Jesuit missions of the Garcia D'Ávila family.

The area sits next to Salvador International Airport and is easy to reach via main roads running north and south along the coast. Most visitors use the town as a stopover between the airport and beaches further north.

The mouth of the Joanes River attracts wading birds that gather in the shallow lagoon where fresh water meets salt. The river forms a natural boundary between beaches and gives the area a distinctive landscape of sandbars and mangroves.

Location: Bahia

Inception: 1962

Elevation above the sea: 30 m

Part of: Salvador, Greater Salvador

Shares border with: Salvador, Camaçari, Simões Filho

Website: http://laurodefreitas.ba.gov.br

GPS coordinates: -12.89389,-38.32694

Latest update: December 13, 2025 17:38