The first food market in the city of Sevilla

The Encarnación Square Market is the first known food market in the city of Seville. It was built on an old medieval Augustinian convent called “Convento de la Encarnación”, giving its name to the Plaza where we are today.

Designed by the major architect of Seville, Melchor Cano, the market had more than 400 stalls of fresh products. Due to its size and location, the market supplied the entire city.

By this time, it was a modern market and it became something much more than a commercial area, it was a meeting point for the locals, the Sevillianos. 

First urban reconstruction of the Encarnación Square

Seville grew and was transformed, to adapt to the new Sevillian life and the influx of traffic from La Campana to Puerta Osario, an expansion of Calle Imagen was undertaken in 1950. In 1973, due to structural problems in the market's vegetable and fish stalls, the Tamarguillo flood and the appearance of the first supermarkets, the Market was demolished.

Nearby, facilities were arranged so that traders could carry out their activity on a provisional basis for a maximum period of 3 years, which were finally extended to 37 years. During all that time this part of the heart of Seville became a fenced off site that caused the degradation of this entire area of the city that had once been the commercial and social nerve centre for centuries.

The onset of a new project: Metropol Parasol

In 2004 the Hon. Seville City Council unveiled an international ideas competition to redevelop the Encarnación Square. The purpose of this initiative was to return to the Encarnación Square the life and splendour that it enjoyed in bygone years and, of course, bring an end the precarious situation of the Market traders.

Out of 65 proposals, the international jury chose the innovative Metropol Parasol project, designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer. His proposal radiated Seville in each stroke. The design was inspired by the centennial Ficus in the Plaza de San Pedro and the vaults of the Cathedral of Santa María de la Sede in Seville. In addition, far beyond being a building to once again host the Market, the space was designed so that the heart of Seville would beat again to the joy of its people and its visitors. And as the icing on the cake, the reticular structure would provide the long-awaited shade offering respite to the city’s intense summers.

The construction of the largest wooden building in the world

On March 6, 2006, work on the project began with Sacyr. A project that meant a challenge from the very outset. The biggest challenge was the wooden deck itself. A unique and unprecedented structure measuring 150 x 70 metres with a height of approximately 28.5 metres. 3,500 pieces joined by almost 3,000 knots and 16 million bolts and nuts later, a structure both careful and respectful with life, along with the environment was obtained.

The largest wooden structure in the world is made with 3,500 raw cubic metres of micro-laminated Finnish pine wood (kerto) covered with waterproof, breathable and flexible polyurethane.

And as one would expect, our construction was sustainable: for every pine felled three were planted in the same forests from which they were taken. Something that led Jürgen Mayer to win bronze in the “Sustainable Construction” category at the Reddot Award 2012 - Best of the Best. In January 2013, the building was a finalist in the Mies van der Rohe Contemporary Architecture Awards.

Setas de Sevilla, a new icon for the city

On December 19, 2010, a modern and renovated Mercado de la Encarnación reopened its doors. Three months later the Plaza Mayor and the Antiquarium were opened. As a final culmination, on 6 May 2011, Setas de Sevilla was completely inaugurated with the opening of the Footbridges and Viewing Platform: in total, 250 metres of overpasses available to Sevillianos and tourists to enjoy Seville, its culture, its history and its environment from a surprising new point of view.

The initial project was called Metropol Parasol, but very soon the citizens of Seville affectionately renamed us Las Setas, a name that is due to the shape of our unique structure, and that is how Las Setas de Sevilla came into being.