Plaza de España, also known as Plaza España, is a

public square 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. Relat ...

Intramuros Intramuros () is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Intramuros comprises a centuries-old hist ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, 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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, 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 The Intramuros Administration (IA) is an agency of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines that is mandated to restore, administer, and develop in an orderly manner the historic walled area of Intramuros, which is situated within the moder ...

. It is surrounded by the Aduana Building, the BPI Intramuros building, which replaced the old Santo Domingo Church destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the Banco Filipino condominium building built on a portion of the old

Ayuntamiento de Manila The Ayuntamiento de Manila (Manila City Hall) is a building located at the corner of Andrés Soriano Avenue (formerly, ''Calle Aduana'') and Cabildo Street, fronting Plaza de Roma in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Casas Con ...

. In the early Spanish colonial period, the square was simply ''Plaza Aduana''. In 1897, it was renamed to ''Plaza de los Martires de la Integridad de la Patria'' or simply ''Plaza de Martires'' after the Spanish soldiers who died during the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

. It was in 1902, during the

American colonial period The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonization of the Americas, British colonies on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–17 ...

, that the plaza came to be known by its present name. The Intramuros Administration began restoring the plaza in 1982. In 1998, the monument to King Philip II was erected in the plaza's center. It was inaugurated in 2000 during the state visit of

Queen Sofía Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

as part of the celebration of the

Philippine Centennial The Philippine Centennial was a series of celebrations by the Philippine government to primarily commemorate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898. Background The Philippine Centennial primarily c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza Espana Espana Buildings and structures in Intramuros

See also

References