Azadliq Square (), in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

is the biggest city-centre square in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It lies next to

Baku Boulevard Baku Boulevard (, also known as National Park) is a promenade established in 1909 which runs parallel to Baku's seafront. Its history goes back more than 100 years, to a time when Baku oil barons built their mansions along the Caspian Sea, Caspi ...

History

The square, formerly named Lenin Square after

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, was created in the 1960–70s, after construction of the Government House of Baku was finished in 1952. A monument to

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

was erected in 1955. It was also formerly known as Stalin Square. Along with the square, Baku authorities constructed several buildings including the "Azerbaijan" and "Absheron" hotels encircling the square, which were later demolished and replaced with the Hilton Baku and the

JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel The JW Marriott Absheron Baku is a high-rise hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, opened in 2012. It is located on Azadliq Square next to Pushkin's Park and the Crescent Hotel on the edge of the Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest in ...

. The Lenin monument sculpted by D. M. Garyaghdi was removed in the early 1990s. The square was renamed ''Azadliq Square'' (Freedom Square) in 1991 after the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 2006, a government-sponsored project oversaw renovation works at Government House and its vicinity including Azadliq Square. Works lasted until 2010.

Buildings and structures

* Government House *

, across the Neftchiler Avenue * Baku Maritime passenger terminal *

* Hilton Baku * Park Bulvar Mall * Radisson Hotel Baku * Behind Government House, Baku Shopping Department Store * The Crescent Hotel

Gallery

File:2013 Military parade in Baku 04.jpg, A parade on the square in 2013. File: Gobierno de Azerbaiyán, Baku, Azerbaiyán, 2016-09-26, DD 27.jpg File:Hökümət evinin inşası.jpg, The construction of Government House in the 1930s. File:1960 CPA 2417.jpg, The building on a Soviet stamp ''40th anniversary of

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

'' File:Azadlıq meydanı - panoramio.jpg File:Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2012-1038.jpg, Baku Hilton Hotel File: Sabayil, Baku, Azerbaijan - panoramio (111).jpg, Park Bulvar Mall File:JW Marriott Absheron.jpg, JW Marriott Absheron File:Panorama of Baku 2022.jpg,

The Crescent Development project The Crescent Development Project or The Crescent Bay (formerly known as Caspian Plus) is a skyscraper complex under construction on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan. The complex includes an offshore hotel (Crescent Hotel), an of ...

Events

Parades

During the Cold War, Lenin Square was used as a parade ground for the annual

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

demonstration on May 1, as well as the

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

and October Revolution Day military parades on May 9 and November 7 respectively. Azadliq Square is the main venue for the bi-annual Day of the Armed Forces military parade which takes place on June 26. In 2018, the square was used as the main venue for the centennial celebrations of the Battle of Baku, which was attended by Presidents

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

and

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

. On 10 December 2020, a victory parade took place on Azadliq Square, honouring the Azerbaijani victory during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, during which Armenian war trophies and Azerbaijani military vehicles, were displayed.

Demonstrations

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 Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

by Armenians. As the demonstrations continued, they became increasingly anti-Armenian, with chants of "death to the Armenians" 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 the 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. Protests during the 2003 Azerbaijani protests took place on the square.

Other

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

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The square was used for the

Baku City Circuit The Baku City Circuit () is a motor racing street circuit located in Baku, Azerbaijan constructed near Baku Boulevard. A lap of the circuit is , making it the fourth-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar (after Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ...

Transportation

Metro

The B6 Metro Station is planned in this area by

Baku Metro Baku Metro () is a rapid transit system serving Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. First opened on 6 November 1967 when Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union, its features are typical of former Soviet Union, Soviet systems, including very deep ...

in the future.

Tram

In February 2012, the government of Azerbaijan announced that it is planning to restore the tram line in Baku. A new line had to be laid along the seaside promenade of Baku Boulevard in central Baku as part of the Baku White City development project. Since then,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

made

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

change the plans and the route of this tram line, which is never happened and project was not implemented yet.

References

External links

{{Baku landmarks Squares in Baku Architecture in Azerbaijan