Shopping, Food · Medellín

Placita de Flórez

Market hall at Calle 50 #39-15, east of downtown. It's the oldest in the city, and people go to buy flowers and fruit and to eat an arepa de chócolo.

Price: Free entry; each stall charges its own prices.
Price: Free
Duration: 0 to 2 hours
Address: Calle 50 #39-15, Bomboná, Centro, Medellín

See on the map Google Maps

La Placita de Flórez is at Calle 50 and Carrera 39, in the Bomboná neighborhood, east of downtown. It opened on January 25, 1891, as the Covered Market of the Oriental neighborhood, on land owned by Rafael Flórez; it's spelled with a z because of him, not because of the flowers (flores). The current building was started in 1951 and opened in 1955. In 2026 it turned 135.

It's an old-school market hall, with about 340 stalls of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Farmers from Santa Elena used to walk down here with flowers loaded on their backs, and that image gave rise to the first silleteros parade in 1957.

Besides shopping, people come to eat: downstairs there's an arepa de chócolo (sweet corn arepa) with cheese stand that's famous in the city. Upstairs are the loose flowers and bouquets.

What to see

The flower and bouquet stalls.
The fruit, vegetables and herbs.
The arepa de chócolo with cheese downstairs.
The yellow 1955 building.

Getting there

Taxi: ask for La Placita de Flórez, Calle 50 with Carrera 39.
On foot from Parque Berrío: about 1 km east along Calle 50.

Tips

Go in the morning and during the day.
Bring cash; at the small stalls it's the most practical.
Try the arepa de chócolo with fresh cheese.

FAQ

Where is La Placita de Flórez?

At Calle 50 #39-15, Bomboná neighborhood, east of downtown Medellín.

Why is Flórez spelled with a z?

Because of Rafael Flórez, who donated the land where it was built in 1891.

What can you find there?

Flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs and food; it has about 340 stalls.

What does it have to do with the silleteros?

Farmers from Santa Elena used to come down to sell flowers at the market carrying them on their backs, and that's how the silleteros parade was born in 1957.