Monument Plaza was a sprawling public square located on Coruscant, a heavily populated ecumenopolis world. Notably, it encompassed Umate, the only visible mountain peak on the planet and the highest point within the Manarai range. This plaza's history spanned thousands of years, gradually ascending as the city-planet developed layer upon layer.
The location of Monument Plaza was on the ecumenopolis world known as Coruscant. Its design was square-shaped, featuring four prominent cone-shaped statues that were illuminated around Umate, the solitary exposed mountain peak at the park's heart. The plaza was bordered on all sides by shops and eateries, and visitors had direct access to the mountain peak.
During the era of the High Republic, the park resided on Level 5,216 and was abundant with greenery, crafted to evoke the area's potential appearance before urbanization.
During the Clone Wars, which were a series of battles involving the Galactic Republic against the dissenting Confederacy of Independent Systems, Duchess Satine Kryze and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi secretly convened at Monument Plaza while she was being hunted by the Coruscant police after she was wrongly accused of murder. She entrusted Kenobi with a holodisc containing evidence to clear her name, intended for presentation before the Senate. Later in the war, during one of the mandatory blackouts that followed the Separatist bombing of Coruscant's central power distribution grid, Senator Onaconda Farr was assaulted in the plaza by two thugs in an attempt to dissuade him from opposing a bill designed to authorize the Republic's acquisition of 5 million more clone troopers. Subsequently, Senator Padmé Amidala delivered a speech to the Senate, which was also broadcast at Monument Plaza, voicing her opposition to the bill.
During the Galactic Civil War, following the Galactic Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Monument Plaza became the site of a celebration marking the passing of Emperor Sheev Palpatine. After a mob toppled a statue of the Emperor, Coruscant Security Forces arrived to quell the unrest and opened fire on the crowd without warning, resulting in civilian deaths and escalating the celebration into a violent riot.
Monument Plaza made its debut appearance in the 1995 Star Wars Legends book, The Illustrated Star Wars Universe. It was presented through a drawing by Ralph McQuarrie and further elaborated upon in text by Kevin J. Anderson. The origin of the idea for Monument Plaza remains uncertain, as some of the McQuarrie art featured in the book consisted of concept art from the Star Wars films, while other pieces were specifically commissioned for the book. It gained canon status with its inclusion in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.
The depiction of Monument Plaza in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series drew inspiration from several pieces of concept art by Ralph McQuarrie. The plaza also featured a large boulder at its center, a tribute to a detail in McQuarrie's work that suggested the only exposed mountain peak on Coruscant's covered surface. The initial design development for this monument was influenced by the actual boulder located on the road to Lucasfilm Animation's northern California headquarters. This very boulder is the reason that the Big Rock campus of Skywalker Ranch is so named.