Valencia Central Market

Valencia's central market opened in 1928 and is still one of the largest food halls in Europe in daily use, which matters because most survivors of its type have become craft courts. The building is Valencian modernisme: iron columns, tiled and stained glass panels, a dome over the fish section and enough clerestory light to see what you are buying. Several hundred stalls sell shellfish and whole fish on ice, cured ham cut to order, snails, spices, dried peppers, oranges and vegetables from the huerta that surrounds the city. It is a shopping market first, busiest before noon, and it faces the Gothic silk exchange across a small square.

What you actually see

• The fish dome - the tallest section of the hall, over the shellfish and ice counters.
• Tile and stained glass - modernisme decoration built into a working building.
• Huerta produce - vegetables and oranges from the market gardens around Valencia.
• Cured ham counters - whole legs on stands, carved to order by the hundred grams.

When to go

Mornings, every time. The market opens early and winds down in the early afternoon, and it closes all day Sunday, which catches out a lot of visitors. Around ten the aisles are shoulder to shoulder; eight thirty is calmer and the counters are fully stocked. Combine it with the silk exchange opposite, which keeps similar hours.

Honest expectations

It shuts by mid afternoon and stays shut on Sundays, so the window is narrower than people assume. The counters that serve food to eat on the spot are priced for visitors and fill up fast. Most stalls sell raw ingredients you cannot do anything with while travelling, so treat this as looking rather than lunch.

Nearby

La Lonja de la Seda opposite, Santos Juanes church and the lanes of the Carmen quarter.