“Don’t bother with churches, government buildings or city squares, if you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars”
– Ernest Hemingway
In some ways he was right but perhaps not about city squares. A city square, especially the main one of a capital or major city really does seem to be the focal point for the soul of its country. It just seems to be the right place to go to for a beginning or end point of a march, a place where people congregate to celebrate often national events (think of the celebrations and people dancing in the fountains in Trafalgar Square at the end of the second world war and in Times Square on V-J Day), or even to protest (the Arab Spring protests in Tahrir Square, Egypt in 2011). An art exhibit or cultural event can often find a home in the city square too.
As a hub and axis point for the city, it serves as a useful focal point – where buses end or start their routes, they serve as intersections for the major roads and pedestrian paths that navigate the city.
For enjoyment and leisure. The city square is a place to go and people watch, sit in a café and take it all in and go for the pleasant afternoon or evening walk.
The measure of any great civilization is its cities and a measure of a city’s greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces, its parks and squares.
– John Ruskin
Crowd In Piazza di Citta. Celebrating The End of Carnival. Ivrea. Piemonte. Italy. Photo: Vittorio Sciosia/REDA&CO/UIG
Czech Republic, bohemia, Prague, view across the city and the old town square with the church of our lady before tyn on the right. Photo: Eye Ubiquitous/UIG
Anarchist Meeting, Union Square, New York City, New York, USA, Bain News Service, May 1, 1914. Photo: Glasshouse Images/UIG
View over Market Place with statue of Silvius Brabo, guildhalls and the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium. Photo: Arterra/UIG
Gilded Wrought Iron Gate And Lanterns, Created By Jean Lamou On Place Stanislas, Nancy, France. Photo: Insights/UIG
Farmer’s Market, Union Square, New York City, New York, USA. Photo: Glasshouse Images/UIG
Black Lives Matter Protest Crowds in Union Square Park, New York City. Photo: Education Images
Barcelona City, Catalunya Square. Photo: Prisma by Dukas/UIG
Crowd of General Dwight Eisenhower Supporters converge on Times Square after Parade, New York City, New York, USA, Dick Demarsico, New York World-Telegram, June 19, 1945. Photo: Universal History Archive/UIG
Crowd in Times Square on V-J Day at time of Announcement of the Japanese Surrender, New York City, New York, USA, photograph by Dick Demarsico, New York World-Telegram, August 14, 1945. Photo: Universal History Archive/UIG
The Brussels city museum located in the Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Edwin Remsberg / VWPics
A general view shows St Peter’s square and St Peter’s basilica during a mass marking the Jubilee for Catechists in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican on September. Photo: Godong/UIG
Djemaa el Fna square, Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/Education Images/UIG
Iran. Isfahan. Imam square. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/Education Images/UIG
Asia, Iran, Isfahan, Imam square, Jameh mosque. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/UIG
Taksim square. Istanbul. Turkey. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/Education Images/UIG
Cities stand with Ukraine, Piazza Santa Croce, Florence 12 March 2022. view of the square full of people and flags. Photo: Francesca Lungarotti/UCG/UIG
Poland, Krakow, Main Market square, Rynek Glowny. Photo: Giovanni Mereghetti/UCG/UIG
Piazza del Campo during the Palio, Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Photo: Vittorio Sciosia/REDA&CO/UIG
Piazza del Campo square. Siena. Tuscany. Italy. Photo: Giuseppe Greco/REDA&CO/UIG
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