An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress's guns. In modern usage the space allows people to pave the area as a pedestrian walk; esplanades are often on sea fronts, and allow walking whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach. Esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts. A promenade, often abbreviated to '(the) prom', was an area where people – couples and families especially – would go to walk for a while in order to 'be seen' and be considered part of 'society'.
Is famed as 'the largest square in the Balkans' and owes its existence to a strategic manoeuvre. In 1576, the houses which huddled around the gate of the fortress began to be demolished to allow the defenders a better outlook over the area. In a period of twelve years, more than 2500 dwellings were pulled down, leaving a great space which the French later planted with trees, and which today forms the Esplanade Square. A walk around the square will lead you to the Rotonda (built in Ionian style in honour of the first British Lord High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Maitland) a popular meeting point for young people, and the Bandstand where, if you are lucky, one evening a band will be giving a performance of classical music or jazz. The bandstand is the focus for the Celebration of the Resurrection on Easter Saturday at midnight. On your stroll you may also meet a pedlar in summer, with a great, wide basket from which he sells refreshing prickly pears ( Frankish Figs).