Mercado do Bolhão, Porto

Mercado do Bolhão is the grand market building before you, still devoted to fresh food and everyday trade. Its present structure was created in 1914 by architect Correia da Silva, combining reinforced concrete with ironwork, timber roofing and granite masonry in a bold design for its era. The sloping site gives the building’s four principal entrances different heights, so the market connects naturally with several surrounding streets.

Inside, traders are arranged by their goods: fish, meat, vegetables and flowers each have their own area, while shops open onto the streets around the market. Look at the building’s substantial frame and the tall openings: they belong to a place that once faced a very uncertain future. By the 1980s, serious structural problems had appeared.

In 2007, a proposal to hand the market to private development for seventy years threatened an interior cleared for luxury homes and a shopping centre. More than 50,000 people signed a petition, and traders and artists protested. The city ultimately restored the market itself.

After more than four years of work, it reopened on 15 September 2022, with 81 indoor stalls, 38 street-facing shops and ten restaurants. Even recovered tiles and vendors’ improvised curtains remain part of its renewed character.