walls covered in azulejos, and fish just in from the sado
Go in and look at the walls. The Livramento tiles cover the interior from floor to ceiling, with scenes of fishing, farming, work in the estuary lowlands, and date from the 1930 extension. There are many thousands of them, by José António Jorge Pinto and Pedro Pinto. At the north entrance, two more panels with views of the city, by Rosa Rodrigues, added in 1944. You've already seen enough before you reach a single stall.
The current building opened in 1930, on the site of the original 1876 market (which gave the place its name, from the ribeira do Livramento stream). The most recent renovation, in 2012, left it in the state it's in today: structure preserved, facilities updated, tiles clean. It works as a real market, not as a museum piece with decorative stalls.
The fish stall is the main reason to come. Setúbal has a serious fishing harbour and the Sado estuary supplies a range you don't see in other markets of the same size. Cuttlefish, estuary sea bass, scabbardfish, coastal shellfish, sardines in season. Go early: it opens at half past seven, before nine the offer is complete, by late morning things start to wind down.
the whole scene
- interior covered in narrative azulejos from 1930, with additional panels from 1944
- fish landed in Setúbal, with variety from the Sado estuary
- camera-toting tourists flooding in after ten, at any time of year
- pairs well with the Avenida Luísa Todi and the riverside promenade, right next door
