Heritage site
Central Market (Phnom Penh)
The Central Market, also called Phsar Thmey or Psar Thmei, is a domed market hall in Phnom Penh that Tourism Cambodia describes as Art Deco.[1] Built in the 1930s, under the French protectorate, it is one of the three main markets of the old city center.[2]
Name
Tourism Cambodia gives the name as Phsa Thmei, "New Market", and says it is called the Central Market for its location and size.[1] Other spellings include Phsar Thmey and Psar Thmei.[3][4]
History
The Phnom Penh Post writes that the market stands on the site of Boeng Decho, a former reservoir. In the city's founding story, told by the Post, 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] Tourism Cambodia describes the building as 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
Tourism Cambodia lists gold and silver jewelry and antique coins among the goods sold in the wings.[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
- ↑ 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)