Tahrir Square

Located in downtown Cairo, Tahrir Square has become synonymous with the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It is a public square that is dominated by a large traffic circle and surrounded by major public and private buildings such as the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, the headquarters of the Arab League and the American University of Cairo. Towards the north east side, there’s a plaza with a statue of Omar Makram, a resistance leader against Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt.
Tahrir, which means liberation, has been a focal point of political change since the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. The square was originally built in the 19th century and named after Khedive Ismail who commissioned the district based on “Paris on the Nile” design. It was officially renamed Tahrir square after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. In 1952, the army overthrew the Egyptian monarch and established a republic. The 2011 Egyptian Revolution began in earnest when people marched to Tahrir Square on the 25th of January 2011.