Castries Central Market

Castries Central Market was built between 1891 and 1894 on a sight previously occupied by unsightly coal heaps and formally opened by His Excellency Sir Charles Bruce (1836-1920), Governor of the Windward Islands, on 2 July 1894.  A covered market was a new concept in Saint Lucia, inspired by similar ones in Europe and America, Mr Augier stating that to shelter the produce had benefits ‘from a sanitary point of view’, goods being protected from the weather.  The engineers who built it were Bruce and Still Limited of Liverpool and the inhabitants of Castries were fascinated watching it being built.  It has remained structurally sound and virtually unchanged architecturally since then.  There is a water fountain in the centre of the building.

Here can be found fruits and vegetables – mangoes, oranges, water melons, paw paws, sour-sop, bananas, carrots, dasheen cucumbers, yams, and sweet potatoes.  There are also many locally made hand-woven or plaited handicraft items, including hats, wood-carvings, bags, rugs and brooms, amongst the inevitable imported souvenir items.