Market Places in Lund

Attractions • Lund Market Hall
• The Flea market
Sat 06:30-15:00
(summer months)
Market trade in Lund
• Clemenstorget
Mon-Sat 06:30-18:00
• Mårtenstorget
Mon-Sat 06:30-16:00 There have been various kinds of market trade in Lund for more than a thousand years. Before that, the Iron and Viking Age settlement, today called Uppåkra but probably was called Lund before, was a large trading market for another thousand years back in time.

This visitor guide tell about places in Lund where trading has been conducted in the past, and where there are trade and markets today to visit in Lund. Reading this visitor guide will take you on a time journey through Lund as a trading city.

Of course, there are many interesting shops in the city of Lund as well, but those are not covered in this visitor guide. The shops change from time to time and therefore it would be difficult to keep a guide up to date.

Main Square

The Main Square (Stortorget) is the oldest square in today’s Sweden. It has been a place for various kinds of trades and goods for almost a thousand years, from the late-900s until the mid-1800s. In the past, many different kinds of handicraft products were traded, and everyday goods such as meat, fish and vegetables were sold in covered wagons.

The Danish Viking kingdom conquered the southwestern parts of Skåne, and the Iron and Viking Age settlement Uppåkra in 964, they established the present Lund. A reason may have been to take control over the trading in Uppåkra. The current Main Square in Lund was probably created around the year 970 and became the place for trading in the new city Lund. During most of the 12th century, the Main Square was covered by a layer of oak planks. It was used as an arena for royal manifestations and announcements, important meetings and administration of justice.

Outdoor trading with fresh food like meat and fish was abandoned in the early 1900s, so when Market Hall opened in 1909, the meat sales stands moved in there. The rest of the trading with fruit and vegetables moved to the Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget) at the same time. After that, there are rarely markets at the Main Square anymore.

The Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget)

As the population in Lund grew, the trading in groceries and cattle increased, and more squares for trade were needed. In the early 1800s, there was a discussion about the possibility of using the medieval Sankt Petri cemetery , the Linné Square as it is called today, as a new market square. The Dye Manufacturer Jöns Petter Borg was against this because his father and his first wife were buried there. Therefore, he bought the large private garden that was located where the Mårtens Square is now and donated it to the city to open a new market square there instead. In that way the Mårtens Square was opened in 1840s for cattle trading, and for a long time it was called the Ox Square (Oxtorget).

There is market trading all year round, but more in the summertime, and mostly on Fridays and Saturdays. The market trade on the Mårtens Square is smaller nowadays, probably due to most people buying everything they need in large grocery stores instead.

The Clemens Square (Clemenstorget)

In the 1890s, Clemens Square (Clemenstorget) was established and the trading in horses and cattle was moved there. The Mårtens Square (Mårtenstorget) continued to be used for trading in vegetables and potatoes.

Clemens Square (Clemenstorget) in the 1890s.

The last cattle market on Clemens Square (Clemenstorget) took place in 1949. Nowadays, only a small part of the square is used for market trading, mostly during the summer months, just like the Mårtens Square.

The Flea market in the street Södra Esplanaden

Another interesting trading place for visitors to Lund is the flea market in the street Södra Esplanaden , which takes place on Saturdays during the summer months. There is also a large range of second-hand shops in Lund, several of them along the northern half of the street Stora Södergatan .