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(KPL) The Central Market located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur is a centre for Malaysian culture, arts and crafts.
(KPL) The Central Market located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur is a centre for Malaysian culture, arts and crafts.
As a building with significant historical value, the Central Market of Kuala Lumpur has developed significantly from its early beginning as a wet market built in 1888 to a delightful destination for tourists, shoppers and art lovers.
Today, the market is a must-visit destination offering visitors a unique shopping opportunity where they can relish not just in a retail experience, but also a heritage experience offering a wonderful visual treat and appreciation of Malaysia’s heritage and architecture in a glance as they step into its doors.
Under its stunning art-deco structure, you will find more than 300 shops featuring local handicrafts, textiles, souvenirs, collectibles and restaurants. With its distinctive Malaysian flavour, the Central Market of Kuala Lumpur provides an excellent place to showcase true Malaysian culture and heritage values and attracts both locals and foreigners to its doors.
The Central Market is located at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Foch Avenue) area and the pedestrian-only section of Jalan Hang Kasturi (Rodger Street). The current art-deco style building has been classified as a Heritage Site by the Malaysian Heritage Society and it is now a landmark for Malaysian culture and heritage.
The original building was built in 1888 by the British in colonial British Malaya. It was used as a wet market for Kuala Lumpur citizens and tin miners.
Further expansions were made in 1889, 1895, 1920 and 1921. By 1933, the expansions to the warehouse made the market what is now its present size at a cost of around $167,000.
As Kuala Lumpur experienced rapid development in the 1970s, demolishing the site was considered. The intervention of the Malaysian Heritage Society proved timely as they successfully petitioned against its destruction and the site was declared as a 'Heritage Site'.
The Central Market Kuala Lumpur is arranged in a stall concept, representing traditional markets that have existed in Kuala Lumpur since the 1800s. Travellers can scroll through the many sections that exist within the Central Market including the Lorong Melayu, Straits Chinese, and Lorong India which is located on the west wing. The second floor houses a food court offering an array of food. Notable are the two-storey and single-storey buildings resembling the kampong-style houses representative of the many ethnic groups living harmoniously in Kuala Lumpur.
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