Market · Savona

Mercato Annonario Coperto

Step inside the elegant iron-and-glass Mercato Annonario on Via Untoria and you step straight into the daily rhythm of Savonese life. Stalls overflow with Ligurian olives, hand-rolled trofie pasta, fragrant focaccia and the freshest catch landed just minutes away at the port.

A feast for every sense

Built in the late 19th century, the covered market retains its original cast-iron structure and high glass roof, flooding the interior with natural light that makes the colours of the produce almost painfully vivid. Arrive before 9 am to watch the city's chefs cherry-pick the best ingredients.

Local vendors sell Ligurian specialities you won't easily find elsewhere: jars of salsa di noci (walnut sauce) made to family recipes, bundles of dried borage used in classic ravioli fillings, and the intensely green extra-virgin olive oil pressed from Taggiasca olives grown in the hills above the city.

What to buy and eat on the spot

Several stalls double as snack counters — grab a warm slice of focaccia di Recco (thin, cheese-filled flatbread) or a paper cone of frisceu, the Ligurian salt-cod fritters that are the ultimate Savonese street food.

The fish section at the back of the market is where the real action is: whole branzino, boxes of tiny local anchovies and violet-tinged sea urchins that the vendors will crack open for you right there on the counter.