1876 – Mercat del Born, Barcelona, Spain

The market was designed in 1873 by the municipal architect Antoni Rovira i Trias and built between 1874 and 1878 by master builder Josep Fontserè i Mestre.The structure of cast iron columns and metallic horses was fabricated by La Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima. The market came into operation in 1878 and was in use as the central market in town until 1971. In 2002 work was started to install the Biblioteca Provincial de Barcelona, but during excavations, extensive ruins of the medieval city were discovered. Currently, the market covers these archaeological ruins which were part of the la Ribera district that was demolished in the early eighteenth century after the defeat of Catalonia in the War of Succession in 1714.