Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Faneuil Hall Marketplace is a historic commercial complex in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, comprising Faneuil Hall and three long market buildings — Quincy Market, North Market, and South Market — surrounding it on the waterfront side of Government Center. Faneuil Hall itself, built in 1742 and expanded in 1805, served as a colonial meeting house where patriots including Samuel Adams and James Otis delivered speeches in the years leading up to the American Revolution; its second floor meeting room is still used for public events and is open to visitors. The building's ground floor has been a market hall continuously since its construction. Quincy Market — the large colonnaded structure directly behind Faneuil Hall — opened in 1826 and today houses a lively food hall along its central corridor: dozens of vendor stalls and counter restaurants serve New England specialties including clam chowder, lobster rolls, cannoli, and Sam Adams draft beer. The flanking North and South Market buildings hold shops, restaurants, and bars at street level and in basement levels. The surrounding cobblestone plaza serves as a performance space for buskers, acrobats, and street musicians throughout the warmer months, drawing large lunchtime and weekend crowds. The marketplace sits on the Freedom Trail, the 2.5-mile red-brick walking route connecting Boston's 16 most significant historic sites; Faneuil Hall is one of the trail's official stops. The Boston Quincy Market Colonnade, the long covered promenade connecting the buildings, is a particularly atmospheric space during summer. The marketplace is steps from the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a linear park built over the buried I-93 highway, providing a pleasant green corridor connecting it to the North End.