page_title: Tahrir Square
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Tahrir Square / History
caption_attribution_description: A night time view of the roundabout on en:Tahrir Square, Downtown Cairo, Egypt.
context_page_description: Tahrir Square, also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cairo, most notably those that led to the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
context_section_description: The square was originally called "Ismailia Square" (ميدان الأسماعيليّة Mīdān al-Ismā‘īliyyah), after the 19th-century ruler Khedive Ismail, who commissioned the new downtown district's 'Paris on the Nile' design. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, the square became widely known as Tahrir (Liberation) Square, but the square was not officially renamed until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which changed Egypt from a constitutional monarchy into a republic. The square was a focal point for the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
caption: Tahrir Square at night with traffic circle, view northwest from Talaat Harb Street
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