Olga Steb
Smithfield meat and poultry Market is the Victorian-era facility built by Sir Horace Jones 140 years ago. The market itself emerged here in the Middle Ages, at that time it was outside the London Wall (medieval city of London). Later, it was the site of annual Bartholomew fairs and knight tournaments. A couple of centuries later, the place saw the fires of holy Inquisition, executions (Sir William Wallace was beheaded here). In 1666, the Great Fire of London stopped not far from the site, so it survived and in the 1990s started turning into a gourmet spot with its plethora of restaurants and bars. Today, the market is hard to catch – it opens 3 am in the morning and shuts before midday. Its main clients are local restaurants. If you want to see the thing ,come before 7. For latecomers – the architecture is impressive enough even without vendors.
