Rua Hospital Velho
Rua do Hospital Velho is located on the north side of Mercado dos Lavradores, between Rua Brigadeiro Oudinot, Rua Jaime Moniz and Rua do Arcipreste.
Its name is associated with the small hospital that existed here at the time of Funchal’s elevation to city status. It has already had the names Rua de Santo António and Rua de Diogo Afonso.
We can find in this street, one of the accesses to the Lavradores Market, construction of the Estado Novo, inaugurated in 1940. Is a space of obligatory visit, structured by small “praças”, “largos”, “ruas” and “escadinhas”, where you can buy products of all kinds, in a mixture of colours, sounds, aromas and where visitors from all corners of the world come together.
We point out in this street, the existence of some typical grocery stores of traditional commerce. as an example, the case of Mercadora, where it is still possible to feel a step back in time, either by the architecture that its space maintains, by its characteristic smell or even by the assiduous frequenters, who still prefer these small services, to the great commercial surfaces.
At the end of the street, we come across the Liceu Jaime Moniz and curiously, this street is again very popular for health, due to the opening of a medical centre with various specialities, the Madeira Medical Centre.
