The Naschmarkt runs for about half a kilometre along the Wienzeile, directly on top of the River Wien, which was covered over at the end of the nineteenth century so that the surface above it could be used. Vienna's produce market was moved onto that new ground in stages as the river beneath it was vaulted over, and the transfer was completed in 1916. The city end is still the working market: fruit, vegetables, cheese, barrels of olives, spice stalls, and the vinegars and horseradish preparations Viennese cooking depends on. Walking west it shifts gradually into restaurants and meze bars, and by the far end it is more a place to eat than to shop.
One side of the street is worth looking up at. Otto Wagner built two apartment blocks here in the late 1890s, one faced entirely in painted majolica tiles with a pattern of roses running up six storeys, the other studded with gilded medallions. Both were ordinary blocks of rented flats, and they put the new Jugendstil style straight onto a working market street. On Saturdays a flea market spreads beyond the western end, and the whole thing closes on Sunday.