Plaza Redonda

You walk in through one of its narrow entrances and, suddenly, the world turns round. Plaza Redonda, the Round Square, is a perfect circle about 37 metres across, enclosed by identical houses and tucked away among the shopping streets of the centre. Valencians also call it “el Clot”, the hole.

1From slaughterhouse to square

For centuries this site was occupied by the city's old slaughterhouse and butchery, in an area devoted since the Middle Ages to selling meat and fish. When it was demolished, the architect Salvador Escrig designed a new square in its place, which opened in 1840. His idea was simple: homes on the upper floors and shops on the ground floor, around an open central space.

2A square that kept changing

In 1850 a fountain was placed in the centre, and in 1916 a ring of wooden stalls was added, turning it into the concentric market you see today. For generations it was the place to buy lace, buttons, thread and embroidery for the fallera costumes worn during the Fallas. In 2012 it was completely refurbished, with a new roof and new stalls.

A square designed for trade that, almost two centuries later, is still devoted to the same thing.

On Sunday mornings it fills with a flea market, with more stalls and more bustle.

3What to look for

• The identical façades, with their balconies lined up in a circle.
• The central fountain, from the mid-nineteenth century.
• The entrances, so narrow that the square cannot be seen from outside.