Chile Guide
Santiago
Mercado Central
Address: Calle Puente, close to the riverbank
Opening time: Daily 6am–4pm
This huge metal structure, prefabricated in England and erected in Santiago in 1868, contains a very picturesque fruit, vegetable and fish market that warrants a place on everyone's itinerary. The highlight is the fish stalls, packed with glistening eels, sharks and salmon, buckets of salt-crusted oysters, mussels and clams, and unidentifiable shells out of which live things with tentacles make occasional appearances. Overhead, rows of pink and grey fish hang from hooks, and white-coated fishmongers turn gutting and filleting into an art form. The best time to come here is at lunchtime, when you can feast at one of the many fish restaurants dotted around the market; the cheapest are those on the outer edge, but it's worth paying the extra to sit amongst the colour and atmosphere of the central hall.