- Plaza
Plaza (IPA-es|ˈplaθa / latin america ['plasa] ) is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban
public space , such as acity square . All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: thecathedral , the "cabildo " or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor'spalace , and the "audiencia" or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis orfiesta , it was the space where a large crowd might gather. Like the Italianpiazza , the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equalled by the market-place.Most colonial cities in
Spanish America 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 .The Italian
cognate is "Piazza ", the Portuguese "Praça ", the French "Place", the Romanian "Piața" and the German "Platz".Examples
*
Plaza Mayor of Madrid
*Plaza Mayor of Valladolid
*Plaza de Mayo
*Zócalo
*Plaza Mayor of Lima hopping center
The first purpose-built shopping center in the United States, opened in
Kansas City, Missouri in 1922, knowingly took the name of "Country Club Plaza " and adopted Spanish architectural details. More recently "plaza" has been used to describe a shopping complex, similar to ashopping mall , borrowing its connotations of a center of cultural life. The name is currently even applied to a single building with some semi-public street-level areas, often with a hotel or office tower above, while "mall" more often refers to multiple buildings or a street.Examples:
Pantip Plaza ,Clinton Plaza ,Plaza Las Américas ,Central Plaza, Hong Kong ,Schiphol Plaza, The Plaza.Fictional example:
Nakatomi Plaza (in real life,Fox Plaza ).
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
