On your next visit to Valencia, be sure to stop in at the Mercado Central (Central Market), or Mercat Central in Valencian, located in the heart of the city just across from one of the city’s most iconic buildings, La Lonja (Silk Exchange). The Mercado is housed in a grand Modernist building that was inaugurated in 1928 and features stained glass windows and a beautiful central dome that rises 30 meters high.
Unlike the Boquería market in Barcelona and the Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid, which are open into the evening/night and offer many prepared foods and restaurants, the Mercado Central in Valencia is more of a traditional market selling fresh raw ingredients. Here you will find locals doing their daily shopping, which is a custom that has gone on for hundreds of years. There are nearly 1,000 stalls selling everything from fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese and spices, to groceries and household goods. You can easily get lost here for hours, taking in the sights and smells, and admiring the quality and variety of products offered.
The market is open Monday to Saturday from 7am to 3pm.
- Plaça Ciutat de Bruges, s/n
- Valencia, Spain
- Phone: +34 963 829 101
- Website: Mercat Central
Photo credit: Antonio Tajuelo (CC BY 2.0)
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