Cairo’s Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square is the largest field in Cairo, Egypt. Initially named Ismailia Square after Khedive Ismail, the name was changed to “Tahrir Square”; it was associated with liberation
from colonialism in the 1919 revolution, and the name was officially established in the July 23 Revolution in 1952. The field is modeled after Charles de Gaulle Square in Paris, which houses the Arc de Triomphe.
Khedive Ismail admired the French capital Paris and wished to plan Cairo along similar lines, including creating a field identical to the Champs-Elysées Square.
Indeed, the Khedive Cairo, whose streets converge on a large square, was named Ismailia Square after Khedive Ismail, the name of which was later changed to the Square.
When witnessing several confrontations between protesters and security forces, including the events of the 1919 revolution and the 1935 demonstrations against the English occupation
and the bread revolution on January 18 and 19 of 1977, including the revolution of January 25 in 2011, Tahrir Square symbolized the freedom and steadfastness of peoples.
President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak’s ruler has become a symbol of the demonstrators’ steadfastness and freedom.
Tahrir Square is home to a number of well-known landmarks, including:
The Egyptian Museum, Cairo‘s American University, The Liberation Complex, designed by Dr. Mohamed Kamal Ismail, is a complex of government interests, The League of Arab States’ headquarters.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ old palace, The Hilton Nile Hotel, Mosque of Omar Makram.
Garage Omar Makram (consisting of four floors under the ground and the roof consists of a public park with a statue of Omar Makram).
Sadat Station, which connects the first and second lines, is one of the largest metro stations in Greater Cairo.
Evangelical Church of Al Dobarah
Streets that branch off of Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square is one of the few squares in Cairo with unique good planning, as it branches from it in the shape of a beam and to it a number of the Egyptian capital Cairo’s most important streets and squares, among which we mention:
Al-Bustan Street, which contains the most important shopping centres in central Cairo, and many banks and state institutions such as the Middle East News Agency, located in a branch of Hoda Shaarawi Street, which is a branch of Al-Bustan Street.
Street is named after Muhammad Mahmoud Al Basyouni, Talaat Harb Street, Tahrir Square, Astronomical Avenue.
Al-Qasr Al-Ainy Street (home to the offices of nine Egyptian ministries, as well as the People’s Assembly and the Shura Council), Talaat Harb Square, Square Abdel Moneim Riad, Square Mohamed Farid., Champollion Avenue.
Kasr El Nil Street
