Venues & stages
Marché couvert
- Type
- Market hall
- Address
- Place du Marché, 1820 Montreux
On the Place du Marché, a stone’s throw from Freddie Mercury’s statue, the Montreux covered market is a jewel of metal architecture. Built in 1891-1892 by the architect Henri Chaudet thanks to an 80,000-franc donation from Henri Nestlé, it is the only Swiss example of an all-metal market hall. Its structure, echoing Victor Baltard’s Halles de Paris, is listed as cultural property of national importance. Beyond the market, the hall turns into a banquet, cocktail or performance venue, hosts the free Freddie Days concerts and becomes, each winter, the epicentre of Montreux Noël.
The covered market, Henri Nestlé’s gift
A gift from Henri Nestlé
The covered market was built in 1891-1892 by the architect Henri Chaudet, thanks to an 80,000-franc donation from Henri Nestlé, an industrialist settled in Montreux. He died, however, nine months before the building’s inauguration, and never saw it completed.
The hall stands on the Place du Marché, by the lake, where the traders’ stalls already gathered.
An all-metal hall
The covered market is the only Swiss example of an all-metal market hall (according to the Guide artistique de la Suisse, 2011). Its structure refers to the Halles de Paris built by Victor Baltard, the steel coming from the same workshop as that of the Eiffel Tower.
This heritage value earns it a listing as cultural property of national importance.
Concerts, banquets and Montreux Noël
Beyond its primary role as a market, the hall can turn into a banquet room for 800, a cocktail space or a performance venue. It hosts, for instance, the free Freddie Days concerts, around the nearby statue.
Each winter, it becomes the epicentre of Montreux Noël, when the Place du Marché fills with chalets and lights.
Related artists :Henri NestléFreddie MercuryQueen