With its curving Art Moderne style façade and excess of windows, Trieste's Market Hall stands out from its immediate neighbours, as well as almost every other building in the city. Built in 1936 by a rich local merchant in order to provide shelter for small vendors from the cold bitter winds that often sweep through the region, the building itself and its occupants remain little changed to this day. The ground floor features a varied assortment of stalls hawking fresh (mostly organic) fruit and vegetable, meat and fish, spices and flowers, and some typical Triestine culinary specialties, such as succulent ham baked inside bread. On upper floor there's a dizzying selection of products from clothes and shoes to souvenirs and collectible items (antiques, paintings, books, vinyl records), with the whole place being a bit reminiscent of the flea markets of Paris and Amsterdam, or a smaller version of the Great Market Hall in Budapest.
