Zócalo is a Mexican Spanish term for a town square or town center where social and business transactions take place. A city's zócalo is often surrounded by shops and often with a flag in the center of the square.
According to the Lonely Planet Mexico 2004 travel guide-book, the name originated when a pedestal was the only thing left after the removal, after independence, of a statue of the Spanish King Carlos IV in the square now known as the Plaza de la Constitución (Mexico City's Zócalo).
Before this usage came into place, zócalo meant the plinth of a statue, originally from the Italian work for small sock or shoe, socalo. This eventually became synonymous with the entire town square itself. There is now a zócalo not only in Mexico City, but in just about any other town or city in the country.
