Mercat Vell de Sitges, Historic market building in Sitges, Spain.
The Mercat Vell de Sitges is a single-nave building with a gabled roof and a symmetrical exposed-brick facade. Its most notable feature is the cast-iron canopy over the entrance, designed by Gaietà Buïgas i Monravà. The building stands on Plaça de l'Ajuntament and Carrer d'en Bosc, and a fish-market wing was added in 1935.
Designed by municipal architect Gaietà Buïgas i Monravà, with plans dated 1889, the market was built by contractor Pere Ferran for 24,700 pesetas and opened on 15 August 1890. It was Sitges' first iron construction. A fish-market wing was added in 1935. The old market was replaced by a new one near the railway station in 1986 and closed definitively in the early 1990s.
The building is listed in Catalonia's Architectural Heritage Inventory. After the market closed in the early 1990s it took on cultural uses, and from 2010 to mid-2021 it housed Casa Bacardí, a space presenting the history of the drinks company and of its founder Facund Bacardí i Massó, born in Sitges.
Located on Plaça de l'Ajuntament in central Sitges, the building remains easily accessible on foot from other major landmarks and tourist attractions in the historic town center.
The structure exemplifies the transition from medieval market traditions to industrial-era architecture, combining functional cast-iron framework with decorative brick construction techniques of the late 19th century.
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