The old Market Square, later known as Plaza de Riego, is what we know today as Plaza de la Merced, one of the busiest squares in the centre of Malaga. The square suffered serious fires during the anti-clerical riots of the Second Republic, so much so that the old Church of Nuestra Señora de La Merced disappeared completely.The cobblestones of this square have witnessed much of the history of Malaga, as well as the childhood and early work of the painter Pablo Picasso. It is said that Picasso took his first steps in the Plaza de la Merced in Malaga, where he used to sit with his father to draw pigeons.