It is located in the center of the city of Valladolid near other important monuments of the city as the Church of Santa Maria La Antigua. It was built by Count Ansúrez and is the first meeting place of the people of Valladolid (this is how people who live in Valladolid are known).
Some time ago, Valladolid was only an agricultural village surrounded by a fence destined to defend the city. The space now occupied by the Plaza Mayor was outside the limits of the first wall.
The Count ordered the construction of a palace for his wife, Doña Eylo Alfonso and for him, as well as two churches: Santa Maria la Mayor and Santa Maria la Antigua. The center of the city was the Plaza de Santa Maria. In the 13th century, the market moved from the Plaza de Santa Maria to the Plaza del Mercado which was known as Plaza Mayor.
A serious fire broke out and destroyed 440 houses in the city. One day after the fire was extinguished, Francisco de Salamanca was ordered to be rebuilt.
This square is one of the largest in Spain and is rectangular in shape. It is entirely porticoed and the arcades rest on granite columns. All the hollows of the floors that surround it are formed by balconies.
Below the square, there is a public car park built in 1971 and the last reform was carried out in 2019, finishing in July.