Plaza

A plaza /ˈplɑːzə/ is an open urban public space, such as a city square.

Throughout Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace, and the audiencia or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or fiesta, it was the space where a large crowd might gather. Like the Italian piazza, the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place.

Most colonial cities in Spanish America and the Philippines were planned around a square plaza de armas, where troops could be mustered, as the name implies, surrounded by the governor's palace and the main church. A plaza de toros is a bullring.

In modern usage, a plaza can be any gathering place on a street or between buildings, a street intersection with a statue, etc. Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the "plaza" as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City: his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in the making of plazas.

Spain

Coordinates: 40°N 4°W / 40°N 4°W / 40; -4

Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/; Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa]), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state largely located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, with archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and several small territories on and near the north African coast. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Along with France and Morocco, it is one of only three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Extending to 1,214 km (754 mi), the Portugal–Spain border is the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union.

Spanish territory includes two archipelagos: the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast. It also includes two major exclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, in continental North Africa; and the islands and peñones (rocks) of Alborán, Alhucemas, Chafarinas and Vélez de la Gomera. With an area of 505,990 km² (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in Europe. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union.

Plaza de España (Manila)

Coordinates: 14°35′36″N 120°58′28″E / 14.59333°N 120.97444°E / 14.59333; 120.97444

Plaza de España, also known simply as Plaza España, is a diminutive open space in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines formed by the intersection of Andres Soriano Avenue, Solana Street and Muralla Street. It is a triangular "square" which features a monument to King Philip II of Spain after whom the Philippines was named. The square is one of 47 parks and plazas in the City of Manila maintained by the city's Park Development Office in partnership with the Intramuros Administration. It is surrounded by the Aduana Building, the BPI Intramuros building which replaced the old Santo Domingo Church destroyed during World War II, and the Banco Filipino condominium building built on a portion of the old Ayuntamiento de Manila.

In the early Spanish colonial period, the square was known simply as Plaza Aduana. It was renamed to Plaza de los Martires de la Integridad de la Patria or simply Plaza de Martires in 1897 after the Spanish soldiers who died during the Philippine Revolution. It was in 1902 during the American colonial period when the plaza came to be known by its present name.

Plaza de España

Plaza de España (Square of Spain) may refer to:

See also