Azadliq Square, Baku

History

Soviet era

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. A monument to Lenin was erected in 1955. It was also formerly known as Stalin Square. On November 17, 1988, long-term rallies of 100,000 people began in the square. In Azerbaijan, these events are regarded as a national liberation movement and 17 November is celebratd as National Revival Day. For the first time, Lenin Square began to be called Freedom Square during the events of 1988.

Post-independence

On October 9, 1992, during the First Karabakh War, the first military parade of independent Azerbaijan took place on the square, marking Armed Forces Day.

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 Lenin monument sculpted by D. M. Garyaghdi was removed in the early 1990s.{{cite web | access-date=August 18, 2010 | archive-date=January 26, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126012642/http://bse.sci-lib.com/particle024116.html | url-status=live |access-date=August 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706130729/http://www.abc.az/eng/news/45030.html |archive-date=July 6, 2011

Buildings and structures

• Government House
• Baku Boulevard, across the Neftchiler Avenue
• Baku Maritime passenger terminal
• JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel
• 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 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

Events

Parades

During the Cold War, Lenin Square was used as a parade ground for the annual International Workers' Day demonstration on May 1, as well as the Victory Day 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 and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On 10 December 2020, a victory parade took place on Azadliq Square, honouring the Azerbaijani victory during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, 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 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 square was used for the Baku City Circuit.

Transportation

Metro

The B6 Metro Station is planned in this area by Baku Metro 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 made Alstom change the plans and the route of this tram line, which is never happened and project was not implemented yet.

References

References

1. "Memarliq-Döqüzinci Bölüm (Architecture-7th chapter)".
2. modern.az. "Bir şəklin tarixçəsi: Azadlıq meydanı, insanlar, çadırlar və qoyunlar...".
3. jahedi. (2022-09-25). "Azadlıq Meydanı".
4. "“Meydan hərəkatı” - Milli Dirçəliş Günü".
5. [http://www.window2baku.com/Streets.htm Старые наименования улиц и площадей Баку.] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-12-08 {{in lang). ru
6. Holding, APA Information Agency, APA. "Military parade held in Azerbaijan".
7. "Azerbaijan: Military parade planned in Baku September 15".
8. "100th anniversary of Baku's liberation marked in Azerbaijan".
9. (3 December 2020). "Baku preparing for grandiose Victory Parade – VIDEO".
10. Makarenko, Alena. (2 December 2020). "Эрдоган приедет на парад победы в Баку: мнение политолога date". 360 TV.
11. Stuart J. Kaufman,''Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War'' p.66.
12. Mark Malkasian, ''Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia'', p170. Wayne State University Press, 1996.
13. (2021-04-12). "Алиев заявил, что некоторые страны разрабатывали план по его свержению".
14. link