Largest squares in Spain

Forum Square

When talking about the largest squares in Spain, our first temptation was to do it from the numerous main squares that populate our country. However, we would be making a mistake because they are not the largest.

Indeed, Spain has some wonderful main squares full of monuments and history. All of them are very pretty, although we have to highlight you the matchless of Salamanca or the no less beautiful of Madrid. Likewise, we could tell you about others that are more humble, but equally precious, such as Chinchón or of Almagro. However, we want to talk to you about the largest squares in Spain and none of these would be among them. They are the ones we are going to show you.

Forum Square (Barcelona)

View of the Forum square

Forum Square, in Barcelona

Perhaps we should not include this public space in our tour either, since it is also called Forum Park. It is no coincidence, since it has about 160 square meters and connects Barcelona with San Adrián del Besós.

It was created in 2004 with a design of Elijah Torres y José Antonio Martínez as headquarters for the Universal Forum of Cultures which was held that year in the Catalan city, hence its name. And also that of its most emblematic building: the Forum, the work of Jacques Herzog y Pierre de Meuron, which today houses the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona.

The main area of ​​the space is dominated by a huge photovoltaic panel, some pergolas called Los Pajaritos, a forest of columns and several scenic spaces to hold shows. But, in addition, it has two other smaller venues: the Campo de la Bota park and the Auditoriums.

Colon Square (Madrid)

Columbus Square

View of Plaza de Colón, in Madrid, one of the most beautiful among the largest squares in Spain

Smaller than the previous one, but equally spectacular is this Madrid square with its 37 square meters. It is located at the confluence of Goya and Génova streets and Paseos de la Castellana and Recoletos.

It gets its name from the gardens and the monument to Christopher Columbus that dominate it. This responds to the neo-Gothic style and was erected at the end of the XNUMXth century. It stands out for its total height of seventeen meters, although the statue itself, the work of Jeronimo Sunol in white marble, measures three.

As for those mentioned Discovery Gardens, below them is the Fernán Gómez Theater Art Center, the former Cultural Center of the Villa de Madrid. Already on its surface, you can see another monument, the one dedicated precisely to the discovery of America, the work of Joaquin Vaquero Turcios. And also the largest Spanish flag in the world, with an area of ​​294 square meters raised on a fifty pole.

Finally, at the confluence of the square with Génova street are the Columbus Towers and, at its feet, on an island, the sculpture Woman with a mirror, by the Colombian Fernando Botero.

Spain Square (Madrid)

Plaza of Spain, in Madrid

Plaza of Spain, in Madrid

We do not leave the capital of our country to show you another of the largest squares in Spain that almost reaches the previous one, since it measures 36 square meters. The streets Gran Vía, Princesa, Bailén, Ferraz, Leganitos and Cuesta de San Vicente converge in it.

It is surrounded by several emblematic buildings of the city. It is the case of the Tower of Madrid, which, with its one hundred and forty-two meters high, was one of the first skyscrapers in the capital, since it was built in 1960. And also the imposing Building Spain, which is at the end of Gran Vía.

But less functional than these and honestly more beautiful is the Gallardo House, a jewel of modernism by Federico Arias King completed in 1914. And we must not forget the building of the Royal Asturian Mining Company, another beauty of monumental alfonsine or eclectic style from the end of the XNUMXth century. Finally, a monument to Miguel de Cervantes dominates the Plaza de España from its center. It was the work of Rafael Martinez Zapatero and Lorenzo Coullaut Valera and it represents the seated writer with Don Quixote and Sancho riding under his figure.

Spain Square (Barcelona)

Spain Square, in Barcelona

The Plaza of Spain in Barcelona

We continue our tour of the largest squares in Spain in the homonymous one of the previous one located in Barcelona. At 34 square meters, it's a little smaller, but no less beautiful. It was designed by architects Josep Puig i Cadafalch y Guillem Busquets, although the person in charge of finishing it would be Antoni Darder.

It was built for the 1929 International Dog Show as access to the Montjuic, main venue of that exhibition. In fact, monuments from that time are still preserved, such as the Spanish village or the old bullring, a neo-Mudejar jewel of Augustus Font today transformed into a shopping center, the Venetian towers de Ramon Raventos or the German pavilion, a marvel of modern architecture due to Mies van der Rohe.

Likewise, in the center of the square there is a monumental fountain created by Jose Maria Jujol and decorated by sculptors Michael Blay y Miquel and Lucia Osle. With classicist features, it represents an allegory of the geography and history of Spain with representation of its seas, rivers and some illustrious characters such as St. Teresa of Jesus, Isabel the Catholic o James I of Aragon.

Plaza de Oriente (Madrid), much more than one of the largest squares in Spain

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace, in the Plaza de Oriente

Located in the heart of the Spanish capital, it has approximately 32 square meters. Its shape is rectangular with a curved headboard and it was designed by Narciso Pascual and Colomer in 1844. Also, perhaps it is the most monumental of all that we have shown you so far.

Because in its western part it is delimited by the impressive Royal Palace, built by order of Philip V in the XNUMXth century on the remains of the old Alcázar. Likewise, in the east it is framed by the Royal Theatre, the Madrid Coliseum for the opera that opened in 1850 and, to the north, the Royal Monastery of the Incarnation, founded by the queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip II, in the XNUMXth century.

But, in addition, the Plaza de Oriente stands out for its beautiful gardens. Not to mention those created by Francesco Sabati, which do not belong to the square but to the palace, we advise you to see the central gardens, of baroque invoice, those of Lepanto y those of Cabo Noval, all of them with their respective sculptural ensembles.

Among these stands out the monument to Philip IV made by Pietro tacca, but also the statues of the Spanish kings, which range from the Visigoth period to Ferdinand I of Leon. Likewise, in the gardens of Cabo Noval you can see a monument to this soldier created by Mariano Benlliure and in those of Lepanto, another to Captain Melgar, the work of Julio Gonzalez Pola.

Plaza of Spain (Seville)

Plaza de España in Seville

Plaza de España in Seville

This imposing square created for the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929. It is located in the Seville park of María Luisa and is due to the architect Hannibal Gonzalez, who created a semi-elliptical space of 31 square meters framed by a spectacular building of about one hundred and seventy meters.

This form symbolizes the embrace of Spain to the Ibero-American nations. It even opens to the Guadalquivir River as a route to reach the New Continent. It is also framed by a small half-kilometre river crossed by four bridges.

As for the main construction, it responds to the classicist style of palladian villa. Its façade has a spectacular ceramic decoration and galleries supported by arches. The latter also have ceilings beautifully decorated with wooden coffered ceilings. Finally, at the ends of the building rise two spectacular baroque towers seventy-four meters high, although it also has two gates, that of Navarra and that of Aragón.

On the other hand, the square has a central fountain, the work of Vincent Traver and with forty eight banks representing the forty-six peninsular provinces and the Canary and Balearic archipelagos. They are arranged alphabetically and on each bench appears its coat of arms, its map and a Pisan tile with some relevant event from its history.

Plaza Mayor of Medina del Campo

Plaza Mayor of Medina del Campo

Collegiate Church of San Antolín, in the Plaza Mayor of Medina del Campo

If we talk about dimensions, it would not be for this one in Medina del Campo to occupy this place among the largest squares in Spain. But we want to include it because it is the largest among the largest in our country, with an area of ​​14 square meters and surpassing, for example, those of Salamanca or Madrid.

She is known for Hispanic Plaza Mayor. And nothing has to envy the previous ones in terms of monumental value. Because it is framed by constructions like the Town Hall and Arcos and Peso Houses, all of them from the XNUMXth century. But also the Royal Palace, convents of San José and Santa María Magdalena or the Collegiate Church of San Antolin.

As a curiosity, we will tell you that its different sidewalks bear names such as the Foal, the Spices, the Jewelry or the Armory according to the guilds that settled in them to sell their items. And it is that its origin dates from the thirteenth century, although the current form is later. In any case, the Plaza Mayor of Medina del Campo is one of the oldest in our country.

In conclusion, we have shown you the largest squares in Spain. Inevitably, we have left others like the Pillar of Zaragoza, with its 24 square meters, the Castle in Pamplona with 14 or your own Main Square of Madrid, with more than 12. Don't you think these places are as wonderful as they are impressive?


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