Plaza de Armas

The Plaza de Armas is the social and architectural heart of colonial Querétaro — an unusually intimate square, shaded by clipped laurel trees and lined with the most handsome buildings in the city. On the north side, the Casa de la Corregidora (now the state government building) presents a long baroque facade with wrought-iron balconies. On the south and east sides, the portales — covered arcades — shelter outdoor cafés that fill up from mid-morning until late evening.

The plaza is not oversized or grandiose. It is precisely the right scale for an afternoon spent watching the city go by. Horse-drawn carriages make circuits around it on weekend evenings. The fountain at the centre is surrounded by a low ornamental garden. If you sit at one of the café tables on a warm evening with a beer or a mezcal, this is one of those places where it is difficult to think of anywhere you would rather be.

things to do sight
A story
The Plaza de Armas is presided over by the Casa de la Corregidora — the colonial mansion that was home to Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, wife of the Spanish magistrate. On the night of 14 September 1810, she discovered that the conspiracy for Mexican independence had been betrayed and, locked in her room by her husband, tapped a coded message on the floor to a guard below, who rode to warn Miguel Hidalgo. The plaza has borne her husband's official title — "El Corregidor" — as part of its identity ever since.