Phsar Nath in the center of town is the main phsar (traditional market) and is geared to the locals, sporting the usual variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, clothes, sundries, food stalls, etc. Gem dealers, a couple of banks, photo shops and moneychangers line the streets that ring the phsar.
Battambang is noted mostly for its colonnaded shophouse architecture, but right in the middle of the old town is Phsar Nath, a French modernist market. Built in the 1930s by the same architects who designed the famous central markets in Phnom Penh and Saigon, it is a very graceful example of late colonial design. There are two halves of the market, probably dividing it into wet and dry sections. Flanked on all sides by French-era shophouses, it is has become the city’s most easily recognizable landmark. It remains a good place to try cheap, tasty local food.
