Your Favroite Public Squares?
 

Europe is known for its many large neat town squares.

which ones are your favroites?

I'll start with:

Trafalgar Square, London - something about Nelson's column that makes it magic as does the National Gallery on its north end and great for people watching

Place de la Concord - Paris - I love to sit on a park bench in the Tuileries Gardens high above the square and just watch the never-ending traffick scoot thru the huge square - with the Elysee Palace on its north side and the many monuments surrounding it.

Belgium - just about any square in any town - with the ubiquitous soaring belfry - Bruges and Brussels Grand' Place are sublime examples.

Rome - Piazza Navona to me is one of Europe's sweetest squares - especially with Bernini's famous fountain now once again spitting water.

The Vatican - the square in the front with its curving collonades is so so majestic.

Venice - St Mark's square - though more a rectangle to me is simply the most majestic, most gorgeous square in Europe - especially at night when the many 'orchestras' are playing at outdoor caffes.

Florence - the square in front of the Uffizi, with its clone of the David statue and backgropped by ancient buildings is so so romantic.

Siena, Italy's simply sprawling main square in front of the multi-hued Duomo is one of my very favorites.

Marienplatz, Munich - so-so square architecturally but so so animated when the figures on the huge clock do their dance at certain hours.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SQUARES?

Aigues-Mortes

Madrid - Plaza Mayor

Four (4) squares come to mind immediately:

Old Town Square in Prague.

Plaza España in Vejer de la Frontera (Spain)

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Old Town Square in Viana de Costelo (Portugal)

While you have noted some excellent examples, I am partial to the Grote Markt in Haarlem.

The main square in Telc (Check Republic).

Plaza de Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela , with the pilgrims ending their long treks.

Place des Vosges in Paris

Nancy - Place Stanislaus

Bitter - I agree and was doing a quick recall and I do believe Haarlem's Grote Markt to be one of the finest - I have passed thru that square so so many times as I often use Haarlem as a base. Of course the great church dominates the square and on many days there is an open-air market.

I've been to several of the squares mentioned above and all are beautiful. For me though my breath was taken away one evening when I rounded the corner and entered the main square in Krakow, Poland. Maybe it was because the sun was setting and made the yellow buildings glow, or because the twinkling lights were coming on at all the cafes lining the square, but it just felt magical to me.

I agree with adrienne & lowcountryislander, the main square in Telc, Czech Republic (ringed with pastel colored buildings), & the main square in Krakow with the lovely yellow cloth Hall & St. Mary's church.

And Old Town Square in Prague immediately comes to mind, as well.

Plaza Mayor in Salamanca
Il Campo in Siena

May no "qualify" as a square, but it is a beautiful
area: Gendarmenmarkt , Berlin.

OK, many of these are just marvelous, and I love remembering the ones I've seen, like Kracow giant square and the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, and the Campo in Siena, of course, the Place des Vosges --- but

Have any of you seen Smith Square in London, with St. John's church in the middle of it? St. John's is called the "Footstool church" becasue it looks like an upturned footstool, with toweres or belfries on each corner.

Go there and hear a concert some Sunday afternoon, after having a delicious snack in the basement cafe.

No place like Piazza San Marco!

A lot of these are great, I really like them also (Nancy, Madrid, Prague and Krakow are favorites). Trafalgar, not so much. I am not a big fan of place de la Concorde, either. I do like Brussels, also. There isn't any big "square" in Paris that I like that much, actually, although I like some smaller places in that city.

I would add the main square of Wroclaw, Poland as one I really liked a lot, and the one in Avignon.

Ditto Bitter. The Grote Markt in Haarlem. I formerly lived a few blocks away and have been back many times, maybe as many times as PalenQ. The active night life around the Grote Kerk is an added bonus.

Pl. Sol in Barcelona (Gracia district).. at night, in one of the bars that line the square.. with anyone from "alternative" people to families with kids have a good time.. a small town in the big city

Gendarmenmarkt.. worked 2 minutes walking distance away from there for 6 years.. was always nice to sit with some lunch on the steps of the concert house in the sun

funny, but some squares are more "inviting" while others may look more spectacular but remain somewhat empty or not too inviting to stay

There is a square in Bruges, I think it is called Simonsplein (or something like that). It is where the Halve Maan Brewery is. It isn't grand or anything - rather small and kind of cramped with just 1-2 storey buildings around it. But it has nice trees and the buildings are neat. During the day there are lots of people around - lively atmosphere. We walked through there at night when no one was around and it was really neat. I could imagine that we were in the 17th century.