Is-Suq tal-Belt | |
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Alternative names | Valletta Market Covered Market Is-Suq l-Antik |
General information | |
Status | Renovated |
Type | Market hall |
Architectural style | Victorian |
Location | Valletta, Malta |
Coordinates | 35°53′52.5″N 14°30′51.9″E / 35.897917°N 14.514417°E |
Current tenants | Arkadia Ltd |
Construction started | 1859 |
Completed | 1861 |
Renovated | 1940s (reconstruction) 1970 2016–17 |
Cost | £3934 |
Technical details | |
Material | Cast iron, wrought iron and limestone |
Floor count | 3 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Hector Zimelli |
Website | |
www.issuqtalbelt.com |
Is-Suq tal-Belt (IPA: [ɪs suːʔ tɐl bɛlt]; Maltese for "City Market" or "Valletta Market"), also known as the Covered Market, is a 19th-century market hall located in Valletta, Malta. It is notable for being the first building in Malta to be constructed mostly of iron. The building was severely damaged in World War II, and the rebuilding was insensitive to the original structure. Further alterations were made in later decades, and the market began to decline in the 1970s. An attempt to rebrand it as a shopping arcade known as Ixtri Malti (Buy Maltese) in the 1980s was unsuccessful. The market continued to decline until it was renovated in 2016–17, and reopened as a food market in January 2018.