A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Related concepts are the civic center, the market square and the village green.
Most squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets, concerts, political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. They are not necessarily a true geometric square.
The Roman Forum (Italian: Foro Romano), also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum, is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
For centuries, the Forum was the centre of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial and legal affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's leaders. The heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly.
The Centre Pompidou (French pronunciation: [sɑ̃tʁ pɔ̃pidu]), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (lit. 'National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture'), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers, Su Rogers and Renzo Piano, along with Gianfranco Franchini. It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially opened on 31 January 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Centre Pompidou is located in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information (BPI; Public Information Library), a vast public library, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, the largest museum for modern art in Europe. The Place Georges Pompidou is an open plaza in front of the museum.
Coamo (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈamo], locally [ˈkwamo]) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. The municipality of Coamo is spread over 10 barrios and Coamo Pueblo – the town or downtown area and administrative center of the city. The Coamo municipality is also a Micropolitan Statistical Area and as such is part of the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area.
The town of Coamo and parts of its barrios are nestled in a valley about 20 miles (32 km) east of the town of Ponce (about 40 minutes by car). It was named San Blas Illescas de Coamo by Spanish settlers in 1579. Saint Blaise (San Blas) was designated by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of the town, and so it remains presently. Illescas is the Spanish town where some of the town founders originated (nowadays in Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain).
Yerba Buena was an anchorage spot and later a settlement that grew into the city of San Francisco, California. The settlement, built in an area known earlier as El Paraje de Yerba Buena and named for an herb that grew abundantly there, was founded in 1834 and was located near the northeastern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, on the shores of Yerba Buena Cove. Yerba Buena was the first Spanish colonial or Mexican civilian settlement in San Francisco, which had previously only had indigenous, missionary, and military settlements, and was originally intended as a trading post for ships visiting San Francisco Bay. The settlement was arranged in the Spanish style around a plaza that remains as the present day Portsmouth Square. The area that was the Yerba Buena settlement is now in the Financial District and Chinatown neighborhoods of San Francisco.
Merdeka Square (Indonesian: Medan Merdeka or Lapangan Merdeka lit. "independence Square"; formerly Dutch: Koningsplein, lit. "King's Square") is a large square located in the center of Jakarta, Indonesia. Measuring approximately one square kilometer in area, if the surrounding fields within the Merdeka Square are included, it is considered one of the largest squares in the world. At 100 hectares, it is over two times the size of Tiananmen Square, and 8 times the size of Place de la Concorde.
At its center stands the National Monument, often called Monas (Monumen Nasional). The paved plaza surrounds the monument often host national events such as military and float parades, as well as civic demonstrations. Surrounding the Monument is now a park with a musical fountain in western side, and a deer enclosure where deer roam among the shady trees in the southeast corner. The square is a popular destination for Jakartans for sports and recreation especially on weekends.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix, pronounced [bazilik nɔtʁə dam də la pɛ]) is a Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Guinness World Records lists it as the largest church in the world, having surpassed the previous record holder, Saint Peter's Basilica, upon completion. It has an area of 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft) and is 158 metres (518 ft) tall. However, it also includes a rectory and a villa (counted in the overall area), which are not strictly part of the church. It can accommodate 18,000 worshippers, compared to 60,000 for St. Peter's. Ordinary liturgies conducted at the basilica are usually attended by only a few hundred people. The basilica is administered by Polish Pallottines at a cost of US$1.5 million annually.
The basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 with different cost estimates given by various groups. Some stated that it cost US$175 million, US$300 million, or as high as US$600 million. The designs of the dome and encircled plaza are clearly inspired by the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City, although it is not an outright replica. The cornerstone was laid on 10 August 1985, and it was consecrated on 10 September 1990 by Pope John Paul II, who had just formally accepted the basilica as a gift from Félix Houphouët-Boigny on behalf of the Catholic Church.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law, has designated twelve scenic landmarks across three New York City boroughs as of 2024. The scenic landmarks include public parks, plazas, and parkways operated by the New York City government. The LPC's rules dictate that scenic-landmark status may be granted to sites with "special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value" to New York City, New York state, or the U.S. Seven of the twelve scenic landmarks were designated in the 1970s. The borough of Manhattan has the most scenic landmarks (with seven), while Brooklyn has four scenic landmarks and the Bronx has one. The first landmark to be designated was Central Park in Manhattan, while the most recent (as of 2024) is Aqueduct Walk in the Bronx.