[NETHERLANDS] Rotterdam - Markthal Indoor Market

12:15 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Opposite the cube houses, you’ll find the giant ‘Markthal’ (Market Hall). The combination of food and luxury housing makes it the first of its kind. The spectacular bow of colour and shapes sprawling across the ceiling is better known as the Sixtine Chapel of Rotterdam.


The grey nature stone building has an arch-wise structure like a horseshoe. The building has a glass facade on both sides.



The Markthal has about 100 fresh food stands, nearly 20 food shops and various restaurants, with a supermarket and a four-level underground car park below.



The construction of Markthal took 5 years. It was opened on 1 October 2014.



Once inside, look up to enjoy the massive artwork sprawling across the ceiling: the ‘Horn of Plenty’ by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam.



The artwork shows colourful enlarged fruits, vegetables, seeds, fish, flowers and insects.



According to Coenen, it is the largest artwork in the world with an area of 11,000 square meters. The artwork was made using digital 3D-techniques on 4,500 pieces square aluminium panels of 1.52 x 1.52 m.





The Markthal also includes the Tijdtrap: an exhibition of archaeological finds from mediaeval Rotterdam excavated during the building’s construction, now on public display for free. Several foundations on the site are now exhibited next to the central staircases underneath the Markthal. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of this beforehand and therefore missed visiting the exhibition of archaeological site.





Stalls selling cheese products.







Wandering amongst the many market stands is a simple pleasure.





There's also a Chinese supermarket inside.



And Taiwan pearl tea stall.




The grilled pork ribs were really delicious. This marks the end of my visit to Markthal.


The Markthal is open seven days a week, from 10am to 8pm.