María Pita Square

This square turns an episode of resistance into the city’s symbolic centre. Its statue commemorates María Pita and the people who defended A Coruña during the English attack of 1589. The individual heroine should not obscure the collective defence or the prominent role played by other women. The square itself is considerably younger: it was planned in the nineteenth century as the city reorganised connections between its old core and commercial neighbourhoods. The Municipal Palace occupies its northern side; Pedro Mariño began the building in 1908. Compare this imposing civic frontage with the arcades and glazed galleries around the square. Two histories meet here: remembrance of a siege and the later creation of a modern urban centre.