Zegyo Market

History

Zegyo Market, covering 12 acres (4.86 hectares), was founded during the reign of King Mindon. It was a principal distribution center for beans, citrus fruit, cotton, nuts, onions, rice, tobacco and wheat as well as the main market for jewellery and handicrafts such as silver and gold embroidery. The market was totally destroyed by fire in 1897, and rebuilt in 1903 with a masonry structure designed by an Italian, Count Conte Calderari. In the 1990s, the colonial era structure was pulled down and replaced with a Chinese-style shopping center.