Planned by Ildefons Cerdà, it is the largest market in Barcelona because, in fact, there are three markets in one: the food, the Encants and the Dominical.

It is one of the largest municipal markets in Barcelona. Originally, it was an open-air market located in front of the Sant Antoni gate of the old city wall, a busy location that favoured commerce.

Construction began in 1872, a few years after the demolition of the walls and was the first market in Barcelona built outside the walls..

Ildefons Cerdà conceived it to respond to the fact that the markets of La Boqueria, El Born and Santa Caterina were insufficient for Barcelona at the end of the 19th century. It was designed by the municipal architect Antoni Rovira Trias and built by La Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima.

Inaugurated in 1882 by Mayor Rius i Taulet, the pavements of its perimeter and the surrounding streets were quickly occupied by stalls of non-food items, giving rise to the Encants de Sant Antoni.

Els Encants arose from the stalls that, at the end of the 19th century, sold textile products on Avinguda del Paral·lel and moved, at the beginning of the 20th, near the Mercat de Sant Antoni.

For its part, Dominical is a fair specializing in a certain types of products: books, magazines, trading cards, postcards, films and video games.

The market was closed in 2009 to carry out the complete refurbishment, which was delayed by the archaeological remains found there. The inauguration of the new market took place in May 2018.

Arquitectura

Project of the architect Antoni Rovira i Trias, it is an iron nave formed by four large arms arranged in the shape of a cross. In the center of the cross, the market is crowned by an octagonal dome twenty-eight meters high supported by eight large iron columns that also perform the function of conducting rainwater inside.

Between these four arms four courtyards are formed in which there are four entrances to the octagonal central body. In each of the eight façades, corresponding to the eight sides of the octagon, there is a large arch-shaped stained glass window, which constitute the main entrances to natural light.

The market is surrounded by a metal canopy that follows the entire outline of the block, where the Encants and Dominical stalls are set up.

The comprehensive rehabilitation, started in 2009 following the project of the Ravetllat-Ribas Workshop, provided the market with new services for traders and customers at the height of the twentieth century and making it much more accessible. The rehabilitation had in mind its monumental and historical character, restoring its elements -both structural and enclosure-, and returning, as in the case of the roof, to the original materials (glazed ceramics).

In addition, the refurbishment included the old bastion of Sant Antoni, which was part of the wall that separated the old city from the new Eixample, and can be visited on the -1 floor. The works at the Mercat also incorporated the air conditioning system, taking advantage of the groundwater, the stabilization of the archaeological remains discovered and the rehabilitation of the structure of the Antoni Rovira i Trias building.

Following the renovation, the Mercat dels Encants stalls were included inside the current building, following the perimeter of the market as a non-food sales corridor and, therefore, they were no longer located outside. For its part, the Dominical del llibre (the Sunday Book Fair) remained in the same location. The modernisation would expand the commercial power of the market, benefiting the entire neighbourhood, and interactions with its commercial axis, and the city.

Year of construction: 1882

Type of building: detached

Area: 5,410 m²

Refurbishments: refurbishment completed in 2018

Services: car park, home delivery, information point, pick-up points/lockers

Location: C. Comte d’Urgell, 1