Azadliq Square, Baku

Azadliq Square

<span class="nickname" ">Azadlıq meydanı
Former name(s)	Lenin Square
Type	Public square
Maintained by	Mayoralty of Baku
Location	Baku, Azerbaijan
Coordinates	40°22′21″N 49°51′12″E / 40.37250°N 49.85333°ECoordinates: 40°22′21″N 49°51′12″E / 40.37250°N 49.85333°E
Construction
Construction start	1960–70s

Azadliq Square (Azerbaijani: Azadlıq meydanı), in Baku is the biggest city-centre square in Azerbaijan. It lies next to Baku Boulevard.

History

The square, formerly named Lenin Square after Vladimir Lenin, was created in the 1960–70s, after construction of the Government House of Baku was finished in 1952 and monument to Lenin was erected in front of it in 1955.^[1] Along with the square, Baku authorities constructed several buildings including "Azerbaijan" and "Absheron" hotels encircling the square, which were later demolished and replaced with Hilton Baku and JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel. The Lenin monument sculpted by D. M. Garyaghdi was removed in early 1990s.^[2] The square was then also renamed in 1991 to Azadliq Square (Freedom Square) after collapse of Soviet Union.^[3] In 2006, the government sponsored project oversaw renovation works at the Government House and its vicinity including Azadliq Square. Works lasted until 2010.^[4]

Buildings and structures

• Government House
• Baku Boulevard, across the Neftchiler Avenue
• JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel
• Hilton Baku

Events

Starting on 17 November 1988, large-scale demonstrations began in Baku's Lenin Square to protest against the alleged destruction of a forest near Shusha by Armenians.^[5] As the demonstrations continued, they became increasingly anti-Armenian, with chants of "death to the Armenians"^[6] and demands that those convicted of the murder of Armenians during the Sumgait pogrom be released. The demonstrations also developed into an anti-central government, anti-Soviet protest. On 23 November, a curfew was imposed in Baku and Soviet troops tried unsuccessfully to disperse the crowds.

The events later led to proclamation, in 1992, of National Revival Day of 17 November.

Following the Black January crackdown by Soviet troops in Baku on 20 January 1990, Azadliq Square became the gathering and mourning place for approximately 2 million people who gathered to take the dead to a burial site in Martyrs' Lane in upper Baku.

In 1989 one of Azerbaijan's greatest vocalist, Yaqub Zourofchi, held a revolutionary concert as Azerbaijan was gaining their independence from USSR.

The square is expected to be part of Baku City Circuit for the 2016 Formula One season.^[7]

See also

• Black January
• Azerbaijani independence movement
• Mayoralty of Baku
• Neftchiler Avenue

References

1. "Memarliq-Döqüzinci Bölüm (Architecture-7th chapter)". Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
2. "Илюстрация "Руднев Л. В., Мунц В. О. Дом правительства (Баку)" в Большой Советской Энциклопедии". Retrieved August 18, 2010.
3. Старые наименования улиц и площадей Баку. (Russian)
4. "Reconstruction of Government House in Baku cost $40 million". Retrieved August 18, 2010.
5. Stuart J. Kaufman,Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War p.66.
6. Mark Malkasian, Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia, p170. Wayne State University Press, 1996.
7. Азад Рагимов рассказал о примерной трассе бакинского этапа Формулы-1 [Azad Ragimov told about approximate track of Baku Formula 1 race]. www.azerisport.com (in Russian). Retrieved 25 July 2014.

External links