The Mercato Coperto is Ravenna's covered market, a brick market hall from 1922 on Piazza Andrea Costa in the historic centre. After years of decline it closed in 2015, and in December 2019 it reopened after a long restoration as a food hall, with stalls, restaurants and bars under its old iron roof. People have traded on this spot since the 5th century.
The Mercato Coperto at a glance
- Where: Piazza Andrea Costa, in the historic centre, a few minutes' walk from Piazza del Popolo; there is a second entrance on Via Cavour.
- Opened: 1922; reopened on 5 December 2019 after work that began in 2017.
- By: the market hall was designed by Eugenio Baroncelli and Tobia Gordini; the recent restoration was directed by the architect Tiziana Maffei.
- What it is today: a food hall of about 4,000 square metres on two floors, with food kiosks, restaurants, bars, a gelato shop, a small supermarket and a space for events.
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes to look around; an hour or more if you eat here.
From fishermen's guild to food hall
This corner of Ravenna has been a place of trade since the 5th century, and in the Middle Ages it was the home of the fishermen's guild known as the Casa Matha, whose origins go back to the 10th century. At the end of the 19th century a semicircular market went up here, the Esedra Vignuzzi, but it was demolished in 1915. In 1916 the council decided Ravenna needed a central covered food market that met modern hygiene standards, and the present building opened in 1922, partly built by enlarging and converting an older fish market.
The market was restored in the early 1980s to meet hygiene and earthquake rules, but trade fell away in the following decades and the hall closed in 2015. A project led by the cooperative Coop Alleanza 3.0 and the Romagna flour mill Molino Spadoni then rebuilt it from 2017. During the works, archaeologists found remains of the older buildings on the site. A first floor was added inside, and the hall reopened on 5 December 2019, when thousands of people came to the ribbon-cutting.
What to look for
- The brick façade on Piazza Andrea Costa, in a simple classical style, with the market's symbol at the entrance: a pair of stone dolphins, restored and put back during the recent works.
- The cast-iron columns and metal trusses that hold up the big skylights, the original structure of 1922.
- The upper floor added in the restoration, from where you can look down over the whole hall.
- The kiosks: a bakery, fishmonger, butcher, cheese and cured-meat counter, grill and piadina stall, where you can buy fresh food or have a meal cooked on the spot.
Piadina, Romagna's flatbread
Whatever else you try, have a piadina: the thin unleavened flatbread of Romagna, cooked on a hot griddle and folded around fillings such as prosciutto, squacquerone cheese and rocket. It is sold all over the region, from street kiosks to the counters of the Mercato Coperto. Around Ravenna it is usually a little thicker than the thin, wide version of the Rimini coast, and every family and kiosk has its own opinion on which is right.
Tips for your visit
- Come at lunchtime or for an early-evening aperitivo, when the hall is at its liveliest.
- Use it as a break between the mosaic monuments: it is central, covered and has plenty of seats, which helps on a rainy or very hot day.
- Look up from the ground floor before you go upstairs: the iron roof is the best part of the building.
Nearby
- Piazza del Popolo: Ravenna's main square, laid out under Venetian rule, with two tall columns and the battlemented Palazzo Merlato, a few minutes' walk south.
- Dante's Tomb: the small neoclassical tomb where the poet, who died in Ravenna in 1321, is buried.
- Basilica of San Francesco: the church next to Dante's Tomb, known for its flooded crypt where fish swim over a mosaic floor.
- Sant'Apollinare Nuovo: the 6th-century basilica whose long mosaic processions of martyrs and virgins are part of Ravenna's UNESCO World Heritage site.
See Ravenna with World City Trail
Our Ravenna scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 38 minutes of walking. It includes the Giardini Pubblici, the public gardens on the edge of the centre. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Ravenna.
Play the Ravenna scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Ravenna →
Play the outdoor escape game in Ravenna →
Facts checked in October 2026.