Merchant Square

The tall, red sandstone arches of the Old Fruitmarket dominate Merchant Square, framing a vast indoor courtyard where the city once traded produce. By the mid-nineteenth century, Glasgow merchants filled this space with the scents of imported oranges and heavy crates of tobacco. When the market moved out in the nineteen seventies, the building sat derelict for years. Now, glass roofs and polished stone floors hold bars and restaurants, though the original cast-iron columns still support the weight of the old ceiling.