Ston and Mali Ston, Croatia

The two settlements (Mali Ston meaning Little Ston) form an interesting system, for they are linked by some of the longest fortifications in Europe, originally over 7km long, with almost 5km remaining today. The walls climb and descend along with a hill, which separates the two settlements. Mali Ston was founded in 1333, as part of a defensive system meant to protect the citadel of Dubrovnik, whilst Ston is among the first settlements of the time built according to a clearly established plan, with straight streets, administrative buildings and residential spaces. In Mali Ston, the port has the role of the square, as is traditionally the case in most Mediterranean settlements. By contrast, Ston’s square was designed as an independent space, yet still on the outskirts of the settlement.

Valladolid, España, Plaza Mayor

Una de las más grandes de España, la Plaza Mayor de Valladolid, tiene una forma perfectamente rectangular, con una longitud de 122 metros y una anchura de 82 metros, dimensiones que establecen una proporción de 3 a 2. Es la primera plaza de este tipo construida en España, cerrada y con un plano regular. Será el modelo a seguir por la plaza Mayor de Madrid, construida en 1617, y la de Salamanca, construida en 1729, donde los patrones arquitectónicos y urbanos establecidos por la Plaza Mayor de Valladolid alcanzan la perfección arquitectónica. Según el modelo vallisoletano, se construyeron posteriormente una larga serie de otras plazas en España y América del Sur.

El 21 de septiembre de 1561, un gran incendio envuelve la ciudad de Valladolid y quema durante tres días sus casas, iglesias y mercados. La desgracia que sufre la ciudad es una excelente oportunidad para implementar nuevas ideas urbanas. El proyecto de la nueva plaza seguirá los principios del equilibrio y la simetría renacentista.

La plaza está pensada como un espacio rectangular cerrado, completamente diáfano en el medio, al que se accede a través de los pórticos. El arquitecto Francisco de Salamanca diseña fachadas idénticas, en espejo, que muestran un impactante fenómeno de simetría arquitectónica. 

Ploshcead Sveti Aleksandar Nevski from Sofia, Bulgaria

Immediately after 1878, when Bulgaria gained its independence, plans began for an imposing cathedral to be built in Sofia. The foundation stone was placed in 1882, but the cathedral was only finished by the middle of the 20th century. It was dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky, in memory of the Russian soldiers. Around the cathedral, one of the first modern squares in the Balkans began to take shape. It is a space with great symbolic significance, for it also holds the more modestly sized church of Saint Sofia (4th-6th centuries), which is delightful in its age and proportions, and which has given the city its name.

Wismar, Alemania, Am Markt

Wismar, a Baltic Sea port, flourishes during the 18th and 19th centuries as part of the Hanseatic League. With a size of 10,000 square meters, Am Markt, the city’s main square, is one of the largest and most beautiful in northern Germany. The buildings show a wide variety of styles, from 14th century red brick houses – typical for the late northern Gothic – to the neoclassical façades or the early 20th century Art Nouveau. The central point of the square is Wasserkunst, a fountain with a rich metal decoration brought from the Netherlands in 1602. The viewer may also be impressed by one of the red brick patrician houses, called Alter Schwede, which dates from 1380 and is one of the oldest of its kind.

Timișoara, Rumania, Piața Unirii, Piața Libertății

En 1716, las tropas de Don Eugenio de Saboya conquistan a los turcos de Timișoara, Rumania. Los austriacos deciden construir aquí una de las fortalezas en forma de bastión más grandes de Europa. Sus fortificaciones serán demolidas en el siglo XIX, pero las bellísimas plazas, dos en total, construidas según los modelos de Europa Central, se conservan intactas para beneplácito del público.

Sarajevo, Bosnia y Herzegovina, Baščaršija

Baščaršija se remonta al siglo XV cuando İshakoğlu İsa Bey, el gobernador turco de Bosnia, fundó Sarajevo. Según la tradición urbana oriental, las ciudades no tienen plaza, sino un bazar. Baščaršija es exactamente lo que significa, bazar, y fue el núcleo comercial, administrativo y cultural del lugar. Aquí se construyeron mezquitas, tiendas, una biblioteca, una torre de reloj, posadas … Cuando, en 1878 la ciudad pasó a formar parte del Imperio austrohúngaro, el nuevo gobernante quería transformarla en una ciudad europea. Un oportuno fuego ayuda a los planes de los arquitectos y el centro del bazar, dominado por un minarete del siglo XVI, se convierte en plaza. Hoy en días es conocida como la “Plaza de las Palomas”, sin ser éste su nombre oficial.

Grote Markt from Antwerp, Belgium

The Grote Markt was originally a square on the outside of the medieval city, a place where northern and southern traders would exchange wares. In 1220, duke Hendrik I van Brabant regales the space of the square to the community. This will become the city centre. The present shape is the result of successive modifications, most of them unplanned. But the result is fortunate: regardless of corner from which the square is approached, it does not immediately reveal itself fully, but only progressively, like a gradual deepening of space. The homes of the guilds form two sides of the square, while the Renaissance building of the city hall – on the UNESCO list – lies to the south. The cathedral, although situated in the neighbouring square, can be seen from any vantage point. In the middle, the Brabo fountain, built in 1887, tells the legend of the city’s founding.

Republic Náměstí Míru and Horní Náměstí from Slavonice, Czech Republic

Called Zlabings in German, and first mentioned in 1260, Slavonice lies one kilometre from the Austrian border. Its geographic position might be the reason its architecture has survived to this day. After expelling the German population in 1945, the town, now too close to the frontier, is deliberately left deserted by the new authorities, with no Socialist apartment building to be found. In later years, it was renovated and transformed into an art colony. Looking even further back in time, the local architecture was once again preserved when the flourishing town was removed from the trading route uniting Prague to Vienna, which made it so that the Renaissance architecture and the initial plan would remain in that particular development phase. The town’s plan is atypical, with two interconnected squares. One of them, called Peace Square, is triangular whereas the other, called Upper Square, is elongated and has the church as a central point, surrounded by houses. A large number of buildings from the late Gothic and Renaissance periods are practically intact, with many façades decorated with a special type of sgraffito.

Cearshia from Kruševo, Republic of North Macedonia

Kruševo, or Crușova in Aromanian, is the tallest town in the entire Balkan Peninsula, located on Bushova mountain. The architecture is interesting and atypical, midway between Europe and the East. The town was built by wealthy Aromanians, forced to migrate after Moscopole was burnt down by the Ottomans, along with Slavs from the mijak group, who were very skilled in house-building. The central square brings together different traditions. The name comes from a Turkish word, meaning centre. The spatial organisation also has European elements, for the great European capitals were familiar to local wealthy traders.

Trg Sveti Nikole from Perast, Montenegro

The urban structure dates from the time of the town’s greatest economic growth, under Venetian rule. As in many coastal towns, the square is also a port. Here one finds the city hall to the west and the stock market to the east. On the northern side, the church of St. Nicholas has the highest bell tower on the Adriatic coast. A so-called ‘balota’ stone marks the place where the port-square ends and where the church square begins, proving that the way the space was structured was very important for the community.

Stralsund, Alemania, Alter Markt, Neuer Markt

La Plaza Vieja y la Plaza Nueva están en puntos opuestos de la ciudad, casi simétricos respecto al centro geográfico, en una distribución totalmente atípica para la época medieval. A pesar de los nombres, sus comienzos no distan mucho: Alter Markt se menciona por primera vez en 1277, nombrada en un documento de la época  como “foro” y Neuer Markt , termino que se certifica una década más tarde concretamente en 1285. La Vieja Plaza jugará por siempre un papel principal, aun siendo las dos prácticamente idénticas

Sin embargo , en muchos sentidos, por su forma, superficie e incluso las funciones que se dividieron entre ambas. Aislada entre aguas,  – como quien dice- con iglesias góticas de ladrillo rojo, Stralsund es una espléndida ciudad medieval hanseática del Mar Báltico.

Schwerin, Alemania, Am Markt

“Am Markt de Schwerin” es la definición en si misma de lo que es una plaza. Un cuadrilátero con lados casi iguales en el centro geográfico de la ciudad, ubicada en este lugar desde la fundación de la ciudad, reuniendo todos los edificios importantes, desde la catedral hasta el ayuntamiento, y dominada en la distancia de un castillo de cuento de hadas. Las estrictas reglas comerciales establecidas en su día por Henry Leul han gobernado desde siempre en esta plaza para desarrollar económicamente la ciudad, su habitat. Cada tipo de comercio tiene un lugar bien establecido. Por ejemplo, el pescado sólo se puede vender en el lado noreste de la plaza por lo que los carniceros se vieron obligados a tener puestos cubiertos. Sólo los mercaderes y artesanos locales tenían permiso de comercializar sus productos. Después de 1171, los extranjeros podría venir un sólo día el año.

Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia from Trieste, Italy

Piazza Grande or Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia is the largest square with a view to the sea in the whole of Europe, measuring almost 17000 m2. Although separated by a road and a promenade, the square and the waters of the Adriatic seem to blend together when the passerby gazes at the space from the other side of the square. There lies the Fontana dei Quattro Continenti, the point towards which almost all the important roads of the city lead to. Only two flag masts frame the perspective.

The history of the square begins in 1252, with the building of a first Palazzo Comunale, but its current look is much newer, reflecting the changes in the second half of the 19th century, when the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Most of the monumental buildings that define the square’s perimeter are built after 1858.

Piazza Paolo VI and Piazza della Loggia from Brescia, Italy

Piazza Paolo VI is Brescia’s main square, as well as the largest, is part of a greater square system. It dates from the medieval period. Here one finds the Duomo Vecchio and the Duomo Nuovo, as well as Il Broletto, the city hall building. But the most beautiful of the squares in Brescia is the neighbouring one, Piazza de la Loggia. Its origins date back to the Renaissance, when, in 1489, work on the Loggia is begun under Filippo Grassi, in the most authentic Venetian style. All the buildings in the square are its visual subordinates, mirroring its arch. On the opposite side, one notices the Torre dell’Orologio, whose colonnade ensures the transition towards Piazza Paolo VI. The astronomical clock in the tower dates from 1546. Piazza della Loggia holds three of the four “talking statues” of Brescia, where the inhabitants voice their grievances about the way in which the city was governed by leaving notes on these statues.