The Great Market Hall or Central Market Hall (Hungarian: “Nagyvásárcsarnok”) is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest. The idea of building such a large market hall arose from the first mayor of Budapest, Károly Kamermayer, and it was his largest investment. He retired in 1896 and participated in the opening ceremony on February 15, 1897. It is located at the end of the famous pedestrian shopping street Váci utca and on the Pest side of the Liberty bridge at Fővám square.
Most of the stalls on the ground floor offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits. Many of them have items that are popular with tourists such as paprika spices, Tokaji wine, Túró Rudi, kolbász sausage and salami can be found there. The second mezzanine floor has eateries and tourist souvenirs. The basement contains fish mongers, picked vegetables stalls and a few specialized butcher shops. The market opens Monday through Saturday at 6am, but closes Monday at 5pm, Tuesday through Friday at 6pm, and at 3pm on Saturday.
The building was designed and built by Samu Pecz in 1897. The market offers a large variety of stalls on three floors. The entrance gate has a neogothic touch. A distinctive architectural feature is the roof which was restored to have colorful Zsolnay tiling from Pécs. The size of the building is 10,000 square meters and is covered by steel structure. During the World War II the market was significantly damaged and remained in deteriorating condition. It wasn’t until 1991 that a thorough renovation was undertaken to bring it back to its original splendor. The building re-opened in 1997 to much acclaim and was awarded with FIABCI Prix d’Excellence in 1999.
