União Market 1The União market, 1835–1911
União Market
Original title: Mercado União
The Mercado União was a Funchal market built in 1835 on the ruins of the church of Nossa Senhora do Calhau and demolished in 1911. The entry also describes the large new municipal market later built at the Largo dos Lavradores to replace the D. Pedro V market and the São Pedro fish market.
1The União market, 1835–1911
The market was built in 1835 on the site of the ruins of the church of Our Lady of Calhau (Nossa Senhora do Calhau). On 12 June the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) asked the prefect (prefeito) for permission to demolish the tower and the remains of the church, even though the royal letter (carta régia) of 10 March 1805 had ordered them to be preserved. To enlarge the market, the Council acquired two buildings, one belonging to Francisco João de Santa Clara e Brito and the other to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament of Santa Maria Maior (‘St Mary Major’), and these too were ordered to be demolished.
Although the market was already operating by the end of 1835, it was not until early 1839 that it was enclosed with an iron gallery with three gates.
On 10 November 1910 the Council resolved to close the União market and demolish it at the end of the year, but it was only on 8 June 1911 that the demolition works were ordered to be put out to tender; the contract was awarded on 10 April of the same year.
2The new market at Largo dos Lavradores
The premises of the Pedro V Market (Mercado de D. Pedro V), intended especially for the sale of ‘greens and vegetables’, and of the Praça de São Pedro, where all the fish consumed in the city was sold, were becoming very cramped. These weighty circumstances, together with the pressing need to extend the ‘Avenida do Mar’ (‘seafront avenue’), made it advisable to build new markets in keeping with the ever-growing population, with the most modern and rigorous rules of hygiene, and with the breadth and spaciousness that these important services required. The Funchal Council ventured upon this undertaking and raised a grand building in which these many services all operated under one roof, though in separate, spacious and independent premises, meeting every condition required for the most perfect organisation of those services. It was even claimed to be the finest installation of its kind in the whole country.
The site chosen was a large polygon bounded by the Largo dos Lavradores (largo: square), Rua de Santo António or Rua do Hospital Velho, Rua da Boa Viagem and Rua Nova de Santa Maria or Rua Latino Coelho, with the main entrance opening on to the old Largo dos Lavradores.
As already stated, despite the diversity of the services brought together, which had previously been carried on in two different markets, the great capacity of the premises and the special, methodical organisation that governed everything allowed it all to be arranged and ordered so that no disturbance or friction arose between the various industrial and commercial sections that carry on their business there.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 05-
A royal order directed that the ruins of the Calhau church be preserved as a memorial of the flood.
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After the Funchal council sought leave on 12 June to demolish the remains of the Calhau church, the União market was built on its ruins.
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The União market was enclosed with an iron gallery with three gates.
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The council resolved to close and demolish the União market.
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The demolition works of the União market were awarded.
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A tender was opened for the demolition of the União market.
Place
Places mentioned · 10- União Market · Subject
Funchal
The Mercado União was a market in Funchal built in 1835 on the ruins of the church of Nossa Senhora do Calhau and demolished in 1911. It was once guarded by João de Azevedo. Its entry also describes the new municipal market later built at the Largo dos Lavradores.
- Avenida do Mar
Funchal. Seafront avenue whose extension required new markets.
The Avenida do Mar is a seafront avenue in Funchal, inaugurated in 1939. Its construction removed most of the Praça da Rainha and required the demolition of the fish market, and its extension required new markets.
- Church of Our Lady of Calhau
Funchal. Ruined church whose tower and remains were demolished to build the market in 1835.
The Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Calhau was Funchal's first parish church, begun around 1438 on the shore by the left bank of the Ribeira de João Gomes. It was repeatedly damaged by floods and destroyed by the great flood of 1803; its chancel was kept as a memorial until the ruins were demolished in 1835 for a market.
- Largo dos Lavradores
Funchal. Square where the new market's main entrance was opened.
Largo dos Lavradores is a Funchal square at one end of Rua Latino Coelho. The main entrance of the new Mercado União was opened there, and it lies near the site of the parish church destroyed in 1803.
- Pedro V Market
Funchal. Vegetable market that had become too small, prompting the new market.
The Mercado de D. Pedro V is a market in Funchal. According to the Mercado União entry, this vegetable market had become too small, which prompted the building of a new market.
- Praça de São Pedro
Funchal. Former fish market of Funchal, replaced by the new market.
Praça de São Pedro in Funchal was the site of the former fish market (Praça do Peixe), later replaced by the Mercado União. The Elucidário records the 1851 slaughterhouse built next to it, a Fiscal Guard post there, and that it was the probable site of the Rua do Peixe gate.
- Rua da Boa Viagem
Funchal. Street bounding the new market site.
Old Funchal street named after the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem, which stood there, and site of the Nossa Senhora do Calhau city gate. It bounds the new market site and lies near where ships were built in the age of discovery.
- Rua do Hospital Velho
Funchal. Street bounding the new market site.
One of Funchal's oldest streets, running from the Praça dos Lavradores and named after the Santa Isabel hospital that long stood there; it was formerly Rua de Diogo Afonso and Rua de Santo António. It was destroyed in the 1803 flood and bounds the site of the Mercado União.
- Rua Latino Coelho
Funchal. Street bounding the new market site.
Rua Latino Coelho is a Funchal street running between the Largo dos Lavradores and the Largo das Torneiras. It bounds the site of the new Mercado União and marks one side of the site of the church of Nossa Senhora do Calhau.
- Santa Maria Maior
Funchal. Parish whose confraternity of the Santíssimo owned a building demolished for the market.
A partly urban parish in the eastern part of Funchal, the oldest of the archipelago, also known as Nossa Senhora do Calhau or Socorro. Its church is the former St James church, and it is noted for embroiderers producing the finest work. It became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
People
People mentioned · 01-
Owner of one of the buildings bought and demolished by the Funchal council to enlarge the União market.