Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Plaza de Armas" in English language version.
The Romans elevated the plaza to a place of political power (the forum) within the city. Spain inherited the Roman concept of the city, and by the time of the Renaissance, her powerful kings were ready to build a new Spain, an empire across the ocean, whose engine would be a system of cities and towns. At the microscale, these cities would be anchored by the spacial nucleus, the central place of power - the Plaza Mayor.
King Philip II of Spain, in his Royal Ordinances passed on the colonialists in 1573, decreed that the central public square, or Plaza de Armas, would serve as the fulcrum of colonial town life, and the main nexus for important public and religious buildings.
