Azadliq Square, Baku

Azadliq Square
	The Government House on the square.
Native name	Azadlıq meydanı (Azerbaijani)
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°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. A monument to Lenin was erected in 1955.^[1] 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 Lenin monument sculpted by D. M. Garyaghdi was removed in the early 1990s.^[2] The square was renamed Azadliq Square (Freedom Square) in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.^[3] In 2006, a government-sponsored project oversaw renovation works at Government House and its vicinity including Azadliq Square. Works lasted until 2010.^[4]

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

The construction of Government House in the 1930s.
The building on a Soviet stamp 40th anniversary of Azerbaijan SSR
Black January
Baku Hilton Hotel
Park Bulvar Mall
JW Marriott Absheron
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.^[5] 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.^[6]^[7] On 10 December 2020, a victory parade took place on Azadliq Square, honouring the Azerbaijani victory during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war,^[8] during which Armenian war trophies and Azerbaijani military vehicles,^[9] 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.^[10] As the demonstrations continued, they became increasingly anti-Armenian, with chants of "death to the Armenians"^[11] 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.^{[citation needed]} The events later led to the proclamation, in 1992, of National Revival Day of 17 November.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Protests during the 2003 Azerbaijani protests took place on the square.^[12]

Other

In 1989 one of Azerbaijan's greatest vocalists, Yaqub Zourofchi, held a revolutionary concert as Azerbaijan was gaining their independence from USSR.^{[citation needed]} The square was used for the Baku City Circuit.^[13]

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.