Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz

Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz or Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz is a major public square in Binondo, Manila, bounded by Quintin Paredes Street (formerly Calle Rosario) to the east and Juan Luna Street (formerly Calle Anloague) to the west, parallel to the Estero de Binondo. It is the plaza that fronts the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church), one of the main churches of the City of Manila, and is considered the center of Binondo as a whole.Originally called the Plaza de Binondo, and then Plaza Carlos IV after Charles IV of Spain, the plaza was eventually renamed Plaza Calderón de la Barca (often shortened to Plaza Calderón), after the famous Spanish playwright. It is believed that the plaza may have been renamed after Calderón either by the then-sitting Governor-General, or by the Dominican friars who were at the time running the Binondo Church, who had adored his works. The plaza was renamed after Lorenzo Ruiz, one of the Martyrs of Japan and the protomartyr of the Philippines, on September 12, 1981, by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 133.HistoryIn 1594, the town of Binondo was established on the northern bank of the Pasig River by then Governor-General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas as a settlement for Chinese migrants arriving in Manila. With urban planning not as strict as that of Intramuros, compounded by the geography of the newly established settlement which is bounded by numerous streams which drain into the Pasig River, Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz was created to serve as the largest plaza of the settlement, directly fronting the Binondo Church. Similar to Plaza Moriones in Tondo, the plaza was originally an open grass field.