La Vega Central, also known as the Feria Mapocho (Mapocho market), is a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

located at the far south of Recoleta commune in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

, near the north bank of the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho () ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapocho begins at the ...

. A wide variety of products are sold in its surrounds, principally fresh fruit and vegetables from the

Chilean Central Valley The Central Valley (), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in southern Chile, wi ...

.Dreisziger, Alejandro
La Vega Central
. Chile.com. Retrieved October 26, 2012 La Vega Central is also home to over 500 dairy, meat, goods and merchandise stores, and offers a variety of

Chilean cuisine Chilean cuisine stems mainly from the combination of traditional Spanish cuisine, Chilean Indigenous peoples in Chile, Mapuche culture and local ingredients, with later important influences from other European cuisines, particularly from Germa ...

. The market covers 60,000 square meters and sees thousands of visitors pass through its stalls each day.The merchants of La Vega: part of Chile's living history
This is Chile. September 27, 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2012 La Vega Central has achieved iconic status in Chile's capital. A long-time vendor at the market was quoted as saying, “Markets nowadays compete (for customers) by using marketing, but La Vega has never had to resort to this. It subsists on its own creation and that is its magic.”

History

From the colonial era, farmers gathered in La Chimba area to sell their products. In the 18th century, with the construction of the Puente de Calicanto, a large number of vendors and merchants began to set up in its vicinity.Vega Central
Memoria Chilena. Retrieved October 26, 2012 In the 19th century, when the area was known as La Vega del Mapocho (the Mapocho market), the land was officially designated for the sale and consumption of produce, making use of the newly channeled

. New storage facilities were also constructed for the loading and sale of produce. In 1895, an initiative by Agustín Gómez García led to the establishment of La Vega Central, with the inauguration of solid-material warehouses in 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega Central Market, La Economy of Chile Retail markets in Chile