A great polished globe spins like magic in the middle of a decorative fountain on the square. A couple of mothers chat with an eye on their children playing on the grass. Two students sit and test each other on their English vocabulary. The ensemble is presided over by the giant head of Dr LL Zamenhof, a huge black figure on an off-white plinth. He looks a little like Lenin, his gaze focused on the granite globe, as if to check it is still rotating.