Mercado de Providencia, Traditional marketplace in Providencia district, Santiago, Chile.

Mercado de Providencia is a marketplace in the Providencia district of Santiago with numerous stalls offering fresh produce, local specialties, and prepared meals. The compact interior space features stalls of different sizes, with offerings ranging from vegetables to fully prepared dishes.

Mayor Alicia Cañas proposed the market after seeing European housewives shop for themselves, despite opposition from the Liberal Assembly and architect Ricardo González Cortés. The old municipal building on Avenida Providencia was demolished in 1942, and Escipión Munizaga with brothers Alberto and Carlos Cruz Eyzaguirre designed the replacement, built by Forteza Hermanos between late 1942 and 1944 at a cost of 4 million pesos. It opened on 17 December 1944 with Mayor Rafael Vives and Education Minister Enrique Marshall Herrera present; President Juan Antonio Ríos had visited three days earlier.

Vendors prepare traditional Chilean dishes like empanadas and pastel de choclo here, creating direct connections between producers and visitors. This daily work shows how the market serves as a place where food and community life meet.

The market is compact, so all stalls are easy to explore on foot. It is best to visit in the early morning or around midday when the widest selection of stalls and dishes is available.

The building's main entrance has a double-height colonnade, and the central nave is lit by skylights; the facade is made of pressed brick. The architects were Escipión Munizaga and the brothers Alberto and Carlos Cruz Eyzaguirre, and Forteza Hermanos built it between late 1942 and 1944 for 4 million pesos of the time.