what is に's role in this sentence?


> その巨大{きょだい}な学園{がくえん}は都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の一等地{いっとうち} **に** 聳{そび}えたっていた

I can understand the meaning of this sentence but I can't comprehend what「に」is
meaning in it.




### The immediate question

This に is the locative に indicating where something is happening.

> どこ​ **[に]{●}** ​立【た】ちますか。  
>  Where `[LOC]` stand `[question mark]`.  
>  → Where [do you] stand?  
>  ここ​ **[に]{●}** ​立【た】ちます。  
>  Here `[LOC]` stand.  
>  → [I] stand here.

In your sample sentence, the に tells us where the action is taking place --
specifically, where その巨大【きょだい】な学園【がくえん】 ("that giant school") is
聳【そび】え立【た】っている ("standing really tall → towering").

### Deeper analysis

I suspect you're having trouble breaking down the grammar of the sentence.
Let's do that now.

> その巨大{きょだい}な学園{がくえん}は都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の一等地{いっとうち} **に** 聳{そび}えたっていた

1) What are we talking about here? Look for the topic particle は:

> その巨大{きょだい}な学園{がくえん}​ **[は]{●}**

So we're talking about a 学園{がくえん}. The words before the 学園{がくえん} modify that
noun and tell us more about it: the 学園{がくえん} is, more specifically, その
("that") 巨大【きょだい】 ("giant") 学園{がくえん} ("school").

2) What are we saying about the 学園{がくえん}? What is it doing? What is the main
verb of our sentence? In Japanese, that's generally at the end:

> 聳【そび】えたっていた

This is a verb phrase with three verbs: 聳【そび】える ("to be really tall"), 立【た】つ
("to stand"), and いた, the past tense of いる ("to be"), used to form progressive
constructions.

Putting these back together, we get "being really tall" + "standing" + "was" →
"was standing really tall" → "was towering".

3) Where is the action happening? We can usually tell by looking for the
locative particle に:

> 都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の一等地{いっとうち} **[に]{●}**

So the action is happening in the location marked by the に: in this case, in
an 一等地【いっとうち】, literally a "first-class [piece of] land", i.e. a "prime
location". The words before the 一等地【いっとうち】 tell us more about it, so we know
that it is 都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の, or "right in the middle of the city".

* * *

Please comment if the above does not answer your question.




### The immediate question

This に is the locative に indicating where something is happening.

> どこ​ **[に]{●}** ​立【た】ちますか。  
>  Where `[LOC]` stand `[question mark]`.  
>  → Where [do you] stand?  
>  ここ​ **[に]{●}** ​立【た】ちます。  
>  Here `[LOC]` stand.  
>  → [I] stand here.

In your sample sentence, the に tells us where the action is taking place --
specifically, where その巨大【きょだい】な学園【がくえん】 ("that giant school") is
聳【そび】え立【た】っている ("standing really tall → towering").

### Deeper analysis

I suspect you're having trouble breaking down the grammar of the sentence.
Let's do that now.

> その巨大{きょだい}な学園{がくえん}は都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の一等地{いっとうち} **に** 聳{そび}えたっていた

1) What are we talking about here? Look for the topic particle は:

> その巨大{きょだい}な学園{がくえん}​ **[は]{●}**

So we're talking about a 学園{がくえん}. The words before the 学園{がくえん} modify that
noun and tell us more about it: the 学園{がくえん} is, more specifically, その
("that") 巨大【きょだい】 ("giant") 学園{がくえん} ("school").

2) What are we saying about the 学園{がくえん}? What is it doing? What is the main
verb of our sentence? In Japanese, that's generally at the end:

> 聳【そび】えたっていた

This is a verb phrase with three verbs: 聳【そび】える ("to be really tall"), 立【た】つ
("to stand"), and いた, the past tense of いる ("to be"), used to form progressive
constructions.

Putting these back together, we get "being really tall" + "standing" + "was" →
"was standing really tall" → "was towering".

3) Where is the action happening? We can usually tell by looking for the
locative particle に:

> 都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の一等地{いっとうち} **[に]{●}**

So the action is happening in the location marked by the に: in this case, in
an 一等地【いっとうち】, literally a "first-class [piece of] land", i.e. a "prime
location". The words before the 一等地【いっとうち】 tell us more about it, so we know
that it is 都会{とかい}のど真{ま}ん中{なか}の, or "right in the middle of the city".

* * *

Please comment if the above does not answer your question.

