Collective Farmers‘ Market – Bazaar

Tskaltubo is not only the source but also the center of the fertile region of the Imeret plain. The Municipal Market or Bazaar thus resulted from the need to provide services to the inhabitants, a place to buy food as well as to create an outlet for local agricultural products. With its natural monumentality, the Bazaar forms the center of the civic town of Tskaltubo. Its location in the built-up area of the town, away from the bathing center, is based on the logical operation of an outlet for the population as well as on the transport links to the regional roads. Situating the market closer to the park could disturb the peaceful and natural character of the area. The market is divided into two floors, a low ground floor with separate shops, partly structurally separated, and an upper market hall accessed by a pair of staircases from the ground floor. The Bazaar, with its classical articulated arch beam construction, provides the perfect spatial backdrop for a single-floor hall, ideal for market purposes. In Tskaltubo, the same principle of two arch beams anchored at the joint is implemented in reinforced concrete instead of steel. The resulting space is spacious, bright and easily ventilated. Similar halls are often found in European metropolises, for example near railway stations or sports halls. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, they were built from steel. The famous Gustav Eiffel was responsible for their spread in Europe. Simple, purposeful and beautiful.