The Plaza de Armas is the main civic square of Old San Juan, laid out in 1521 as the place where the local militia drilled. Today it is a shaded plaza ringed by City Hall (the AlcaldÃa) on the north side, the Puerto Rico Department of State on the west, and several nineteenth-century arcaded buildings around the rest. The four marble statues at the corners represent the four seasons.
There is a small kiosk in the middle selling coffee and pastries, and benches under the trees fill up with retirees playing dominoes in the late afternoon. Free Wi-Fi covers the square, which makes it a working stop for travellers needing to sort the next steps of their trip.