Place des Martyrs, Beirut

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Place des Martyrs (or el Bourj, (Arabic: البرج‎); English: Martyrs' 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.

Place des Martyrs was home to the public and free demonstrations, known as the Cedar Revolution in the spring of 2005. The demonstrators and the media began to refer to the square as Freedom Square.