Mercado de San Miguel
The San Miguel Market is located today where years ago stood a church of the same name, the origin of which dates back to 1202. As was customary at the time, merchants sold their goods around the outside of the church. The church burned down in a disastrous fire in 1790 during the reign of Jose Bonaparte, but the spot continued as a location for merchants to do business.
Later on in 1835, in light of new trends to maintain better hygiene and urban sanitation, the rows of stalls and boxes of traders in view of passersby were covered up, according to writer Mesonero Romanos. Additionally, Pascual Madoz recounts that in 1847 there were 128 boxes and 88 stalls.
In the end, the project to build a covered market was entrusted to the architect Alfonso Dubé, and it finally opened in 1916. The market at San Miguel is the only example that has survived to this day with the iron structures that existed at one time in Madrid: Mostenses, Chamberí, and La Paz.
The market consists of a ground floor with a metal frame of cast iron supports and a ceramic crown crest on the roof.
The intention now is to merge the idea of a traditional market where you can buy high quality and seasonable products along with bars where you can partake in the typical Spanish custom of enjoying an aperitif before lunch or dinner or having a something to eat at any time of the day.
