The world learned the name Midan Tahrir (Liberty Square) in early 2011 when millions of Egyptians gathered there in a peaceful revolution to topple the then-President Hosni Mubarak.
Across the street, in contrast, stands the Egyptian Museum, in a neoclassical building painted pink (of doubtful taste), which survived the demonstrations without suffering a scratch, as a human barrier was formed around it.
***
It is the largest public square in the city and the main stage of the constant protests and demonstrations that have taken place there. Among them is the bloody Arab Spring. The square is surrounded by several important buildings, among them the Ministry of the Interior and the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. To tell you the truth, Tahrir Square is an ordinary square, there is nothing very interesting to see. But she is a great national icon and deserves a little visit. And you can be sure that you will sometimes drive her, at least to the Egyptian Museum.
***
The Square
Tahrir Square ('tahrir' means liberation) has been the heart of Cairo for more than a century. Laid out in the 1860s, at the same time as the building of the Suez Canal, it was originally known as Ismailia Sq after the khedive (or ruler) of the time. The Egyptian army built a sizeable barracks between the square and the Nile, occupied by British troops after their 1882 invasion; the Egyptian Museum was opened in 1902 and the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1920. The square had been renamed Tahrir by the time of the 1952 revolution, when the barracks were replaced by the Nile Hilton (now the Ritz-Carlton), ensuring that it remained one of the city’s social hubs. The square took on political significance when it became the focus of massive protests against President Mubarak, famously those that started on 25 January 2011, and against President Morsi in June 2013, both of which ended in regime change.
Tags: Egito Egypt Cairo Midan Tahrir Praça da Liberdade praça square Liberty Square flag bandeira the bloody Arab Spring The Square Tahrir Square Tahrir Liberation Ismailia Sq
A port of felluc Dok Dok, in which you can take a stroll.
My first look at the West Bank in Cairo.
Tags: Egito Egypt Cairo Garden City Dok Dok poente sunset felucca barco a vela boat barco sailing boat
The Cairo Tower is a free-standing concrete tower in Cairo, Egypt. At 187 m (614 ft), it has been the tallest structure in Egypt and North Africa for about 50 years. It was the tallest structure in Africa for ten years until 1971, when it was surpassed by Hillbrow Tower in South Africa.
One of Cairo's well-known modern monuments, sometimes considered Egypt's second most famous landmark after the Pyramids of Giza, it stands in the Gezira district on Gezira Island in the River Nile, close to downtown Cairo.
Tags: Egito Egypt Cairo Cairo Tower برج القاهرة Borg Al-Qāhir Torre do Cairo tower torre Gezira Gezira Island Nile River Rio Nilo
Built from 1954 to 1961, the tower was designed by the Egyptian architect Naoum Shebib. Its partially open lattice-work design is intended to evoke a pharaonic lotus plant, an iconic symbol of Ancient Egypt. The tower is crowned by a circular observation deck and a rotating restaurant with a view over greater Cairo. One rotation takes approximately 70 minutes.
In the 1960s, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced that the funds for the construction of the Tower originated with the Government of the United States, which had provided $US6 million to him as a personal gift with the intent of currying his favour. Affronted by the attempt to bribe him, Nasser decided to publicly rebuke the U.S. government by transferring all of the funds to the Egyptian government for use in building the tower, which was 'visible from the US Embassy just across the Nile, as a taunting symbol of Arab resistance and pride'.
Between November 2004 and 17 May 2009 it underwent a EGP 35 million restoration project, completed in time for its fiftieth anniversary on April 2011
Tags: Egito Egypt Cairo Cairo Tower برج القاهرة Borg Al-Qāhir Torre do Cairo tower torre Gezira Gezira Island Nile River Rio Nilo