For over 100 years, St. George's Market has been an established feature of everyday life in Belfast. When it was first built, it was the supermarket of its day, a place where people from all around came to buy eggs, butter, poultry, fruit and vegetables. There were once around a dozen such markets in Belfast but St. George's is the city's only surviving market building.

St. George's Market was constructed in three phases over the period 1890-96 to the design of J.C. Bretland, the city surveyor. Its sombre exterior is distinguished by classical style facades, while the interior is bright and airy, with cast iron columns supporting a top lit roof.

In recent decades, St. George's Market suffered from lack of investment and decline. However, in 1995, Belfast City Council secured a f3.5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and, assisted by the Environment and Heritage Service, undertook a major restoration of the building. J.C. Bretland's original drawings were used as the basis for the restoration and improvements included the installation of exact replicas of the market's original Victorian shops on its Oxford Street frontage.

The building was re-opened in May 1999 and today, the revitalised St. George's Market sits comfortably beside such modern neighbours as the Waterfront Hall. It is one of the city's most vibrant retail, cultural anw conferencing venues. Visitors are welcome to its weekly food markets and it regularly hosts such events as fashion shows, boxing tournaments and exhibitions.

A fascinating interpretive display in the main Oxford Street entrance to St. George's Market tells the history of Belfast's markets.

Visit the Belfast Welcome Centre, at 47 Donegall Place, near the City Hall, for details on places of interest, tours and what's on in Belfast and Northern Ireland.