Pilgrimage to the markets of Seville is almost a kind of ritual where colorful food stalls converge with the most primitive aromas. A landscape that was once outlined with carts and a lively morning life and today coexists with gastronomic spaces, bars of cold cuts and new tenants that, far from colonizing the usual markets, make them again become an attraction to transit.
Whether to buy fresh produce, flowers or to buy some tapas with tradition and unravel the flavors of the city. Along with the mercadillos, the markets are ideal places to take the pulse of Seville. Write down these coordinates for your next shopping (or gastronomic route).
1. Feria Street Market
One of Seville’s busiest arteries, the calle Feria, also embraces one of the most popular markets. The building that houses, whose origins date back to the eighteenth century, articulates much more than small food businesses.
Next to the church of Omnium Sanctorum and the Palacio de los Marqueses de la Algaba, it offers a categorical fish bar in the center of the building, a multitude of stalls and fantastic restaurants. You can taste delicious hamburgers, street food and succumb without complaint to delicious international cuisines.
By the way, next to the market you’ll find Parcer铆a, an indispensable for avid coffee drinkers.
馃搷 c/ Feria, s/n.
2. Mercado de Triana
The space that today presides over the Triana Market encloses, literally, vestiges of the history of the city. What was once a Muslim fortification would become, after the capture of the city by Ferdinand III, the seat of the Holy Inquisition. The Castle of San Jorge was demolished in 1785 due to its ruinous state, occupying its place since 1821 the Plaza de Abastos de Triana, open-air with gabled roofs stalls.
This was its appearance until 1991, when it was demolished in order to raise one with better structure to the surprise of finding the remains of the ancient Castillo de San Jorge. The one we know today would not see the light until 2001 and includes archaeological remains.
Its interior brings together much of the idiosyncrasy of Triana. An aspect that evidences the close bond between the neighborhood and the pottery and flamenco and businesses capable of preserving its character and tradition.
馃搷 c/ San Jorge, 6.
3. Arenal Market
A few meters from the lively terraces, restaurants and cocktail bars of Reyes Cat贸licos, in Pastor y Landero two spaces stand out: Chiquilla and what is slowly emerging as one of the essential markets of Seville. This historic building that raised the architect Juan Talavera y Heredia hosted in the seventeenth century the convent of Nuestra Se帽ora del P贸pulo.
Over time it even housed a prison and it was not until 1947 that this market was founded, which today stands in the center. It is unmistakable: porticoed exterior, white and whitewashed facade, glass roof and a multitude of stalls that transcend the pure food.
Cafeteria, tea house and even a vegan restaurant coexist in this picturesque market that, although it is not one of the busiest of Seville, reserves an experience of the most authentic.
4. Mercado de la Encarnaci贸n, the oldest market in Seville
The Encarnaci贸n is the oldest market in the city, tracing its origins to the year 1842. Back then it was built on the site of the former medieval convent of the Encarnaci贸n and consisted of 400 cuarteladas (the term that designated the stalls we name today) that supplied food to the entire city.
In fact, it was known for years as the Central Market of Seville. In 1973 it was demolished due to structural problems. A provisional market settled in the square for 37 years.
The rest is history. The City Council of Seville put out to tender the reconstruction of the square and, finally, J眉rgen Mayer was responsible for raising the Metropol Parasol project, which would be inaugurated in 2010. At street level and under the Setas de Sevilla emerges this market of 2,200 square meters with more than thirty stalls, many of them businesses of the original traders who transferred the tradition to other generations.
In other words: in this avant-garde installation (not without debate) modernity converges with the tradition of market life. One of the most modern architectural projects of Seville against the memory of the old market square, the most ancient of the whole city that somehow survives inside the Setas.
馃搷 Plaza de la Encarnaci贸n, s/n.