The Plaza San Martín is one of the most representative

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...

s of the city of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is located at the ninth block of Colmena avenue, within the

Historic Centre of Lima The Historic Centre of Lima () is the historic city centre of the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. Located in the city's districts of Lima and Rímac, both in the Rímac Valley, it consists of two areas: the first is the Monumental Zone est ...

which was declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1988 by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. It is located near the Plaza Mayor and is connected to it by the Jiron de la Union. Its central monument gives homage to Peru's liberator,

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

History

Precedents

The location of the plaza had been the site of the San Juan de Dios hospital which was torn down in 1850 and replaced by a railway station, which in turn was torn down between 1911 and 1918. Revolutionary politician

Bernardo de Monteagudo Bernardo de Monteagudo (1789–1825) was a political activist and revolutionary. He took part in the liberation struggles in South America, particularly in Argentina. He was born in Tucumán in Argentina, and was assassinated in Lima, Perú. ...

was assassinated on the adjacent ''Plazoleta de la Micheo'', now part of the plaza, in 1825. Later, on July 26, 1872,

Silvestre Gutiérrez Manuel Silvestre Gutiérrez Chávez (Arequipa; — Lima; ) was a Peruvian colonel that participated in the coup d'état headed by his brother Tomás Gutiérrez against then president José Balta on July 22, 1872, dying in the events that took pla ...

, a participant of the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

headed by his brother Tomás, was killed in a shootout at the station.

Construction

The Plaza San Martín was inaugurated on July 27, 1921 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the

independence of Peru The Peruvian War of Independence () was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dis ...

. The design, ornamentation, furnishing, and gardening of the plaza was designed by Spanish architect Manuel Piqueras Cotolí. The benches and handrails were constructed out of marble and the paving, of granite. There were also four water fountains, bronze streetlamps, and flower-filled gardens. The design for the monument to

was chosen in a

contest CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...

in which the design created by the Spanish sculptor

Mariano Benlliure Mariano Benlliure y Gil (8 September 18629 November 1947) was a Spanish sculptor and medallist, who executed many public monuments and religious sculptures in Spain, working in a heroic realist style. Life and works He was born in the Lower S ...

emerged victorious and illustrated San Martin during his voyage across the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Architecture

The construction of the buildings that surrounded the plaza occurred at a gradual pace. The

Colón Theater Colón, the primary Spanish translation of Christopher Columbus, may refer to: Places ;Argentina * Colón, Entre Ríos * Colón Department, Córdoba * Colón Department, Entre Ríos * Colón, Buenos Aires ;Colombia * Colón, Nariño * Colón, P ...

and the

Giacoletti Building The Giacoletti Building (), also known as the Juan Romano Building (), was a historical commercial building located in San Martín Plaza. In 1972 it was declared a historical monument of Lima. The building was destroyed in a fire on October 27, 2 ...

were the first structures to be built and were erected in 1914 before the construction of the plaza. The other buildings were later built in three stages. The Hotel Bolivar was built in 1924 and was designed by Rafael Marquina, located next to the Lamp of the Three Graces, a 19th century fixture that was moved to the square in 1915. The Zela and Pumacahua arcades were built during the second stage in 1926 and also were designed by Rafael Marquina. The ''Club Nacional'' was built in 1929 by Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski and Enrique Bianchi. In the third and final stage of the project from 1935-1945 the remaining flanks of the plaza were built up with the construction of the Cine Metro, Fénix, Boza, and Sudamérica buildings which were built in the ''Neocolonial'' style (similar to the

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. Thes ...

). As a result, the plaza maintains uniformity with respect to its buildings' facades. Its overall appearance is primarily baroque; the buildings, plaza, and central monument all cohere to uniform and specific styles. The architectural style to which most of the surrounding buildings belong to is that of the neohispanic or neocolonial styles within the realm of European derived architecture. Two buildings surrounding the plaza have caught fire in recent years: the

, in 2018, and the Marcionelli building, in 2023.

References

* Bentín Diez Canseco, José (1989). Enrique Seoane Ros, una búsqueda de raíces peruanas. Lima:

Faculty of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is a professional school or institution specializing in architectura ...

of the

National University of Engineering The National University of Engineering (, UNI) is a public engineering and science university located in the Rímac District of Lima, Peru. It's widely considered as one of Peru's most prestigious educational institutions. History The National ...

. * García Bryce, José (1980), "La Arquitectura del Virreinato y La República". In: ''Historia del Perú'', tomo XII, Lima: Editorial Juan Mejía Baca.

External links