The Porto market: how the renovation of Bolhão became a real success story

Published connected 26/05/2025 - 15:00 GMT+2•Updated 15:01

We are successful nan centre of Porto, astatine nan Bolhão market. The shoppers present cognize they’ll find caller location nutrient from friends and cheerful stall holders.

The building has been renovated from nan crushed up: coming nan marketplace is modern and functional, yet retains nan architectural beauty that draws visitors successful from acold and wide.

Every time it is visited by astir 20,000 people, so it is called nan bosom of nan city. 

Rui Moreira is nan politician of Porto. He has ever known nan market, which he utilized to sojourn arsenic a kid pinch his grandmother: 

"If you ideate Porto arsenic a tree, I would opportunity that nan Bolhão marketplace is 1 of nan main roots. It is located successful nan centre of nan city, characterised by its monumentality and nan monumentality of nan group who activity there.

It is nan politician who demanded that nan marketplace beryllium renovated successful these terms: that is, it is Rui Moreira who sought to sphere nan Art Nouveau monument while opening it up to modifications that would make it functional for those who activity there. 

After 4 years of renewal work, nan Bolhão reopens successful September 2022; renovated from nan crushed up, it is now astatine nan forefront of wellness and hygiene standards.

Rumours moving done Bolhão market

Francisca Carneiro Fernandes, committee personnel of Go Porto, nan nationalist institution that manages nan market, and caput of Market management, explains that “The renewal of Bolhão was a process supported by nan city. It was a analyzable and difficult task, but nan citizens wanted it to happen”.

The task was conceived by young designer Nuno Valentim. He faced 2 awesome challenges: to creation nan merchandise antagonistic area successful compliance pinch wellness and hygiene regulations and to ideate nan loading and unloading of equipment successful an underground abstraction truthful arsenic to make nan cognition easy.

"Designing nan full logistical part", he emphasises, "everything that cannot beryllium seen, that makes nan marketplace functional, lets it ‘breathe’... That was nan awesome transformation”.

The equipment are delivered to nan underground car park, nan traders prime them up themselves. There are acold rooms, refrigerators and lifts. Everything is caller and modern.**

Sara Araújo useful successful nan food marketplace that utilized to beryllium her mother's. The marketplace is simply a ngo for her: “Thousands and thousands of group travel each day. After nan renovation, those who nary longer came, came backmost and from each around, from Boavista, Maia, Porto; perfectly everyone came back”.

Maria Teixeira is simply a florist who has worked successful nan marketplace her full life and cannot ideate herself anyplace else: 

"The marketplace is my life; I person been moving for 54 years: I started arsenic a young woman and this is what I emotion to do”.

The costs of nan building tract and its taste value

The renewal costs 28 cardinal euros, of which 22 cardinal euros was financed by nan European Union and 6 cardinal euros came from nationalist funding, partially nationalist and partially regional.

“The narration betwixt customer and seller is overmuch much direct, overmuch closer”, Francisca Carneiro Fernandes concludes. “We often spot these women school customers really to navigator their products, which helps to understand nan history of nan metropolis and nan Portuguese measurement of life. Social and taste worth is incredibly important for this market”.

Many sacrifices person been made but it was good worthy it; nan marketplace remains a important node for nan city's system and it is besides nan cradle of nan city's taste identity.