Location
Address: C/ Domínguez de la Haza
Phone: 954 14 00 11
Audio guide:
History
On the site where the market now stands there was once a Dominican monastery, dedicated to Saint Catherine, built between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries. On 27th April 1837, the convent was expropriated for public use during the confiscation of church property ordered by Mendizábal.
The actual market square was built by Ramón del Toro in 1842 in the style of traditional squares in Castille, in the centre of Spain. It is a large rectangular courtyard, measuring 35 by 45 metres, made up of four porticoed galleries with 28 stalls, all built in the neoclassic style. Just a small section of its passageways corresponds to the former convent cloister.
Points of interest
At the beginning of the 20th century other buildings were erected in the centre of the square because it had become such a bustling and busy marketplace, but these changes severely disrupted the existing architectural harmony, leading to them eventually being torn down.
Throughout the history of the site, there have been notable archaeological discoveries. Towards the end of the 19th century, the French-born English archaeologist George Bonsor discovered Roman mosaics here which today are conserved in the Plenary Hall of the Town Hall, as well as in the Roman Necropolis Museum. In 2008, another mosaic was discovered that is now on display in the local Town Museum.
At present the square is hardly used at all as a food market, and has become more of a centre for leisure, where cultural events are held that fill the square on holidays and where there are many new establishments, mainly bars and restaurants all in an attempt at retaining the character of this once-bustling space.