Plaza de Armas, Pisco, Peru
Most cities constructed by the Spanish Conquistadores were designed on a standard
military fashion based on a grid pattern, taken from the Roman Castrum, of which
one of the blocks would be left vacant to form the Plaza de Armas. It is often
surrounded by governmental buildings, churches, and other structures of cultural
or political significance. The name derives from the fact that this are would
be a refuge in case of an attack upon the city, from which arms would be supplied
to the defenders.