Place des Martyrs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martyrs statue
Enlarge
Martyrs statue

Place des Martyrs (or el Bourj, (Arabic: البرج‎); English: Martyr's Square) is the heart of the downtown district of Beirut, Lebanon (see Beirut Central District). Its central statue commemorates six Lebanese nationalists who were hanged during World War I by the Ottomans.

[edit] History

During World War I, Lebanon was under Ottoman rule. In 1915, Beirut suffered a blockade by the Allies, which was intended to starve the Turks out. The effect was a famine, followed by plague, which killed more than a quarter of the population. A revolt against the Turks broke out which resulted in hanging of six rebel leaders in the renamed Place des Martyrs.

[edit] Current day

Some remains of the opera and the bronze Martyrs statue are the only features left of the Place des Martyrs. The statue, riddled with bullet holes, has become a symbol for all that was destroyed during the Lebanese Civil War.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/l/a/Place_des_Martyrs_a854.html"