Plaza Mayor

The main square of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, called Plaza de España, is the nerve center of the municipality, a place of recreational expansion and concentration of services: from traditional craft businesses such as a churrería to cafes and stores, all framed in a building heritage that combines sacred art (represented by the church of Vera Cruz) and civil (old ancestral homes, palaces and arcades).

With its more than 1,500m2, it is a clear example of an open space that welcomes visitors as they enter the town, and which houses the tourist information necessary to be able to understand the rich heritage, gastronomy and environment of the municipality.

This main square has been the Urban Hall where the human activity of this municipality has concurred, the social theater of the community, the node of religious activities and the optimal place for recreation, peace, calm and tranquility offered by a population of just over 300 inhabitants.

MONUMENTAL SPACE
PLAZA
Plaza de España
Exteriors
Plaza Histórica

Its center is occupied by a fountain crowned by an authentic baptismal font, and what better origin could these jets have than a font whose waters were blessed in the past!

The church of the Vera Cruz ennobles with its presence the whole, with its 7 arches that attract attention and looks; and on the facade in front of the sacristy we have Roman epigraphy redoubts, indicating the presence of that people in these parts; And on the opposite side of the temple, mirroring, we can see another 7 arches, whose façade is flanked by a shield with a skull on its projecting flank (and which mentions how in 1606 these arches were made for property of the Consistory) and a tombstone inscribed on its western flank, which mentions the payer of the same, who is none other than a Commissary of the Holy Office.

And right on the first floor of this building we have the Interpretation Center, where you can get tourist information about the town and the Sierra, in addition to being able to participate in a free guided tour of its facilities. In the adjacent square there is a stone cross, used in the past to expose to public shame the prisoners that the Inquisition executed, who passed through the center of this square on their way to the Royal Prison (located a few meters away, in what is now the Town Hall).

Looking up a little, we see the great stone mass of the Convent that the Augustinian Recollects ran from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, whose facade appears austere but wealthy, dominating the people and watchful of everything that happened in this square. A place of worship, but also of power.

And behind, filling the canvas of the landscape, we are presented with the Sierra, the Sacred Mountain, the symbol of the town, the place that since millennia ago has maintained a settlement worthy of mention, because not in vain has been home to many settlers, and currently watches at all times the activity of the municipality, because we can not understand this space, this square, without its strong presence. Tourist signage panels, posts indicating the heritage resources of Santa Cruz and indication of routes that we can follow help visitors in their journey through this town full of history.

You can also take a break on the way to enjoy the terraces that the bars in the square offer to the public, from morning to evening. And for the early risers there is the churrería, which entertains the traveler with traditional breakfasts, those of all life (not in vain is known as the Cathedral of the Churro).

In short, the grandeur of this square and the use we can make of it is subordinated to the majesty of the Sacred Mountain, in whose foothills the town is located and whose image benefits, delighting anyone who comes to this emblematic place, because feeling the square, living the square, enjoying the square, involves feeling wrapped by the everlasting silhouette of the mysterious Sacred Mountain, as a silent guardian of the daily life of villagers and visitors.