Mercado Central de San Pedro, Municipal marketplace in central Cusco, Peru
Mercado Central de San Pedro is a covered marketplace in central Cusco, Peru, where stalls offer fresh produce, cooked food, textiles, spices, and regional goods. The market is divided into sections spread across several aisles, drawing both locals and visitors every day.
In the late 1910s, mayor Manuel Silvestre Frisancho moved the city's food market from the Plaza de Armas and Plaza San Francisco to the pampa de Qasqaparo, land of the Santa Clara convent, for sanitary reasons. The first part opened on 7 June 1925 and was popularly called Mercado Frisancho; construction was completed only in 1950, after the 1950 earthquake led to the demolition of the south block and an extension.
Many vendors speak Quechua and sell medicinal herbs that have been used in Andean healing for centuries. Walking through the aisles, you can see dried plants, flowers, and roots arranged according to traditional knowledge passed down through families.
The market faces Plazoleta San Pedro and Santa Clara street, southwest of the Plaza de Armas. The Santa Clara street follows the route of an old Inca road from Huacaypata toward Contisuyo. The building occupies a rectangular block with a two-slope roof and three levels.
Among the stalls, a row of cooks prepares simple lunch menus that are very popular with locals, featuring soups and stews made from local ingredients. These makeshift kitchens are a good place to eat what residents of Cusco actually put on the table every day.
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