The Plaza de Candelaria is named after the Candelaria convent, situated in the square until it was demolished in 1873 under the First Spanish Republic, when its grounds were redeveloped as a plaza. The plaza is notable for a statue in its centre of Emilio Castelar, president of the first Spanish republic, who was born in a house facing the square. A plaque situated on another house, states that Bernardo O'Higgins, an Irish-Chilean adventurer and former dictator of Chile, also lived in the square.