Heritage site
Central Market (Phnom Penh)
The Central Market, also called Phsar Thmey or Psar Thmei, is a domed Art Deco market hall in Phnom Penh.[1] Built in the 1930s, under the French protectorate, it is one of the three main markets of the old city center.[2]
Name
Its Khmer name is Phsa Thmei, "New Market", and it is called the Central Market for its location and size.[1] Other spellings include Phsar Thmey and Psar Thmei.[3][4]
History
The market stands on the site of Boeng Decho, a former reservoir. In the city's founding story, earth was dug in 1437 to raise the hill of Wat Phnom for King Ponhea Yat, and the pits filled with water.[5]
The French development agency, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), writes that the design came from a competition held in 1934, which the architect Chauchon won. He worked with a firm in French Indochina that had built two markets in 1929, one in Battambang and one at Cholon near Saigon.[2] Cambodianess dates the start of building to 1935, and AFD gives the opening as 1937.[3][2] AFD holds up the hall as a prime example of protectorate-period architecture.[2]
Building
The concrete hall is laid out as a cross, with a large central dome and four wings running out from it.[1][3] The building is dark yellow.[1] SilverKris, the Singapore Airlines magazine, calls it the city's most iconic market, for the look of its central dome.[6]
Renovation
By the 2000s the building had aged, its stalls were crowded and street sellers filled the space around it, and its sanitation fell short.[2] AFD gave the Phnom Penh municipality a grant of 6 million euros to restore it, in a project that ran from December 4, 2006, to August 1, 2011. The works restored the historic hall and added drains and new stalls between its arms.[2]
When the project began, the market held more than 3,100 licensed businesses and was known for higher-priced goods. After the works ended in 2011, the market was put under its own management body.[2] AFD lists better flood control, sanitation and waste collection among the results, with some effect on visitor numbers.[2]
Trade
Goods sold in the wings include gold and silver jewelry and antique coins.[1] Food is sold there too: Move to Cambodia names the market as a place to buy num banh chok, and Authentic Food Quest recommends it for grilled squid during the day.[4][7]
References 7
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tourism Cambodia, Phnom Penh travel guide (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Agence Française de Développement, Réhabilitation du marché central de Phnom Penh (project page, undated; in French)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cambodianess, How Did Phnom Penh Get Its Name? (undated)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Move to Cambodia, Khmer Noodles: The Story of Num Banh Chok (undated)
- ↑ Phnom Penh Post, Wat Phnom: Capital's Most Important Temple (undated)
- ↑ SilverKris, Singapore Airlines (undated)
- ↑ Authentic Food Quest, Cambodian Street Food (undated)
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