Plaza 245932 225526801 2008-07-14T04:02:13Z Station1 3131428 {{For|the hotel in New York City|Plaza Hotel}} {{Wiktionary}} [[Image:Valladolid-plaza.jpg|thumb|right|The ''[[Plaza Mayor of Valladolid|plaza mayor]]'' of [[Valladolid]], [[Spain]], a prototypical Spanish plaza.]] [[Image:Plaza Mayor Madrid.jpg|thumb|right|The ''[[Plaza Mayor of Madrid|plaza mayor]]'' of [[Madrid]] in its dense urban setting.]] '''Plaza''' ({{IPA-es|ˈplaθa}}) is a [[Spanish language|Spanish]] word related to "field" which describes an open urban [[public space]], such as a [[city square]]. All through Spanish America, 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 equalled by the market-place. Most colonial cities in [[Spanish America]] were planned around a square ''[[Plaza de Armas|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]] ==Shopping 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 [[Retailing#Shops and Stores|shopping complex]], similar to a [[shopping 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 (mall)|The Plaza]]. Fictional example: [[Nakatomi Plaza]] (in real life, [[Fox Plaza]]). [[Category:Town squares]] [[Category:Spanish loanwords]] [[es:Plaza]] [[fr:Place (voie)]] [[id:Plaza]] [[ja:プラザ]] [[pt:Praça]] [[simple:Plaza]]