Mercado de Zapatos La Central

The Mercado de Zapatos, La Central is a giant shoe market on the site of the old stockyards in Venustiano Carranza. Although this iteration of the market opened in 1975, leatherworkers were long an offshoot of the great animal processing plant that preceded the market here. Any walk through the surrounding streets will still bear witness to the hundreds of butchers and restaurant suppliers plying their trade in the area.

At 172 merchants, La Central may not be the biggest footwear market in the City. But it’s often singled out as the most affordable. Two long corridors of merchants spread out between the Calles Estaño and Aluminio in the Colonia Felipe Ángeles. That’s just a half-block from the giant Mercado Unidad Rastro. But in fact, the entire area shares a history as the site of the giant stockyards during the first half of the 20th century.

The neighborhood tianguis is to some extent an extension of the crafts market further west at Colonia Maza and the beginning of the Calzada de Guadalupe. The Mercado de Zapataos stands at the center. It’s also something of an extension northward from Tepito, itself long home to the famous and giant Mercado Granaditas.

Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.