Plaza de Armas

plazas de armas; literally arms square or place-of-arms) is a Spanish term commonly used to refer to town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to them; some examples also being found in North America.

While some large cities have both a plaza de armas and a plaza mayor, in most cities those are two names for the same place.

[1][2] Most cities constructed by the Spanish conquistadores were designed in a standard military fashion, based on a grid pattern[3] taken from the Roman castrum, of which one block would be left vacant to form the Plaza de Armas.

It is often surrounded by governmental buildings, churches, and other structures of cultural or political significance.

[4][5] The name derives from the fact that this would be a refuge in case of an attack upon the city, from which arms would be supplied to the defenders.