Praça do Comércio from Lisbon, Portugal

This square owes its existence to the great Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755 and the fire that followed. On this spot, abandoned due to natural disasters, a new, well-ordered city was built, as a result of reconstruction efforts coordinated by the Marquise of Pombal, the leader of the royal government.

Praça do Comércio was built on Terreiro de Paço, the site where the court of the Royal Palace had previously been held. This name is still used for the square, with its one side facing the Tejo, the greatest river on the Iberian Peninsula. Measuring 175 by 180 meters, this square is one of the largest on the European continent.

Trg Sveta Eufemije & Trg G. Matteottija from Rovinj, Croatia

The history of this city is tied to Venice, but Rovinj was built much earlier, at the start of the 8th century, on an island separated from land by a narrow canal. Much later, in 1763, towards the end of Venetian rule, the community silts the isthmus and the city is united with the mainland. Through a classic process of synoecism, a new system of markets takes shape right on the spot of the old canal. They are four in number, and the most important is Trg G. Matteottija. Most of the buildings here are from the 19th century, but they celebrate the past link of the city with Venice, even recreating the lion of San Marco on the city hall’s pediment. The main square of the city remains Trg Sveta Eufemije, found at the highest point on the hill. Unobstructed on three sides, it gazes out to the sea, dominated by the 60 meter campanile of the basilica, with the statue of Saint Euphemia at the top, rotating in the breeze.

Ljubljana, Eslovenia, Prešernov trg, Mestni trg

Prešernov trg ha sido desde sus inicios un simple cruce de caminos a la entrada de la ciudad medieval, donde se construyó en 1646 un monasterio franciscano que todavía hoy existe. En el siglo XIX la encrucijada se pavimenta y pasa a asimilarse a un mercado urbano. El final del mismo siglo trae una transformación radical, ya que después del terremoto de 1895, el lugar de las casas antiguas lo ocupan las residencias neoclásicas y luego la Sezession. En 1980, el arquitecto esloveno Edvard Ravnikar realiza el diseño circular actual del pavimento, dando al mercado una nota muy especial: un sol sobre fondo de granito con rayos de mármol macedonio de Prilep. Tromostovje, un puente triple sobre el río Ljubljanica, conecta la actual plaza a través de la calle Stritarjeva con la plaza antigua, al pie de la colina donde se encuentra el castillo, en las inmediaciones de la catedral. La plaza de la ciudad, Mestni trg, está dominada por una fuente de 1751. Las dos plazas, aunque no fueron pensadas para estar juntas y cada una es el resultado de una remodelación posterior, conforman un conjunto urbano inesperadamente coherente y muy plástico.