It occupies the space where the convent of St Joseph of the Barefoot Carmelites had been built, which is why it is also known as Mercat de Sant Josep.

The first mention of the Boqueria market dates from 1217, in a document which states "that a representative of the king has granted an individual the ownership of a table for chopping meat".

At the end of the 13th century, in the time of Peter the Great, the second wall of the city was built along the current Passeig de la Rambla. In front of one of its entrances, the Portal de Santa Eulàlia, was the so-called Pla de la Boqueria, where street vendors and farmers in the area sold their produce. In 1470, at the request of the farmers of the Raval and the villages of the Baix Llobregat, the pig fair of December was located there.

After the Middle Ages, street markets were established in various places on the Rambla that, at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to a disorderly and anarchic ensemble.

When it was planned to expand the city by demolishing the walls, the idea was born to regroup the different mercantile activities in a sheltered place. The place chosen was the land occupied by the convent of St. Joseph of the Barefoot Carmelites, badly affected by the burning of convents on 25^th July, 1835. As it was an old ecclesiastical area that belonged to the public land since the confiscation policy, the municipality requested its cession to the State.

Once the demolition was completed in 1837, the provisional stalls of the traders on the Rambla in the old convent were temporarily regrouped. The laying of the first stone of the market, on St. Joseph's Day 1840, was accompanied by a rather eloquent ritual: an ounce of gold and other coins were deposited under the first stone as a symbol of wealth which the future market would bring. Insufficient space soon became apparent, and adjoining buildings were expropriated.

In 1848, the current neoclassical square and portico with large Ionic columns were built and, inside this enclosure, in which awnings were used as a roof, sixty-eight stalls were built. It was Christmas 1871 when the gas lighting was inaugurated.

Architecture

It has an iron roof composed of five identical sections without perimeter closing, which was built in 1914 by the company La Maquinista Terrestre y Marítima.

At the main entrance there is a modernist arch from 1913 by the architect A. de Falguera. It is an iron portal decorated with blue glass panels and yellow circles and rests on two bases covered with Gaudí-style trencadís (broken tiles). From the top of the arch hangs an ancient coat of arms of the city.

Year of construction: started in 1840 and completed in 1914

Type of building: detached

Area: 7,138 m²

Refurbishments: Completed in 2001.

Services: information point, Boqueria Classroom, car park, online sales (Manzaning), publications, pick-up points/lockers

Location: La Rambla, 91