Market Hall

With the push of the Langreo City Council, headed by Mayor Celestino Cabeza, a covered market was planned in 1902 and was inaugurated five years later. It was to be located next to the church and the School of Arts and Crafts on a plot of land in the park popularly known as "Parque Viejo" (old park), which was donated by the family of the founder of the company Duro y Cía (in the early years of the 20th century it became Sociedad Metalúrgica Duro Felguera). The building combined an interior iron structure with an exterior enclosure of solid brick and artificial stone. The lowered horseshoe arch of its bays was particularly striking.

Barely ten years later, the extension of the Dolores Fernández Duro Park made it necessary to move the market, as well as the vegetable garden exploited by the La Salle friars, who were responsible for the school. Demolition began in 1918 and the people of La Felguera had to wait until 1922 to witness the inauguration of the market in its new location. Its design was carried out by the municipal architect José Ramón del Valle. In the 1950s it was necessary to enlarge the available space, which meant replacing the roof. The architect Julio Galán, who was in charge of the municipal works at that time, was responsible for the modifications. It is worth highlighting the solution adopted for the new roof, which used the system of vaults lightened with ceramic pieces developed by the civil engineer Ildefonso Sánchez del Río, which made it possible to bear the 30-metre span of the building without intermediate supports with a vault that was only 18 centimetres thick.

A new refurbishment carried out in 2006 changed significantly the appearance of this building, a key element in the profound transformations of a town that was born and grew at the pace set by a factory.

Mónica García Cuetos