Plaza de los Héroes de Rancagua, Central square in Rancagua, Chile

Plaza de los Héroes de Rancagua is a central public square in Rancagua with a distinctive cross-shaped layout formed by intersecting walkways. Gardens and green spaces surround a central equestrian statue, and the square connects directly to the city's main shopping and dining areas.

The square was founded in 1743 as part of the region's early colonial development. In October 1814, it became a battleground where General O'Higgins led patriot forces against Spanish troops during the fight for Chilean independence.

The square's name comes from the 1814 Battle of Rancagua, fought on this ground; the cross layout of the intersecting streets preserves the founding name Santa Cruz de Triana. A metal laurel donated by the Senate in 1942 for the centenary of Bernardo O'Higgins's death is attached to the north side of his statue. On 11 July 1971 Salvador Allende spoke here after Congress approved the nationalisation of large-scale copper mining, with Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez and El Teniente miners present.

The square is fully pedestrianised, so it is crossed on foot; Calle Estado Norte and Sur and Germán Riesco run through it, and Paseo Independencia closes the axis to the west. The Catedral, the Delegación Presidencial Regional and the Municipalidad face the square, and the Iglesia de La Merced is one block away. The southeast corner keeps its original colonial alignment.

The cross layout is not a general colonial model but the result of the 1743 checkerboard plan: two streets cross at the centre of the 8-by-8-block grid, and only the south-east corner survives in its original position. The square is also the founding site of the Villa Santa Cruz de Triana.