The origins of the Bolhão Market, one of the most iconic buildings of the city of Porto, date back to the mid-19th Century, when the Porto City Council decided to build a market on land acquired from the Church. It was at that time that architect Joaquim da Costa Sampaio Lima ordered the allocation of spaces for the "Bolhão Indoor Market".
The first known project for the market dates back to 1837 and was created by architect Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior, who designed a rectangular square, divided, inside, into four blocks surrounded by trees with a staircase to the North that connects to Rua de Fernandes Tomás street.
The original project foresaw the construction of a metallic cover in the inner courtyard, but this was never carried out. Function-wise, traditional business establishments were integrated in the outer part of the building. Spontaneous market trade was kept indoors.
Did you know that
The name "Bolhão" comes from the existence of a stream, on the land where the building was implanted, that when crossing a muddy plain between Rua Formosa and Rua de Fernandes Tomás streets formed an enormous bubble of water. In the vicinity, there was already a water spring, called “Fonte do Bolhão”
