Freedom Square, Tbilisi

Freedom Square - Liberty Square
Native name Georgian: თავისუფლების მოედანი
Location	Tbilisi, Georgia
Built	Early 19th century
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical and Modern with some Pseudo-moorish elements.

Freedom Square (Georgian: თავისუფლების მოედანი Tavisuplebis moedani, pronounced [tʰavisupʰlɛbis mɔɛdani]), formerly known as Erivan (or Erivanskaya) or Pashkevich-Erivanskaya Square (Georgian: ერევანსკი მოედანი, Erevansk'i moedani, Russian: Эриванская площадь, Erivanskaya ploshchad) under Imperial Russia and Lenin Square under the Soviet Union, is located in the center of Tbilisi at the eastern end of Rustaveli Avenue.

The square was originally named after Ivan Paskevich, the Count of Erivan, a Ukrainian general of the Russian Imperial Army, who earned his title in honor of his conquest of Erivan (present-day Yerevan) for the Russian Empire. Under the Soviet Union, the square was renamed, first "Beria Square", and then "Lenin Square". The location was first named Freedom Square in 1918, during the foundation of the First Georgian Republic following the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Freedom Square was the site of the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery. Freedom Square has also been the site of various mass demonstrations including those for Georgia's independence (from the Soviet Union), the Rose Revolution, and others. In 2005 Freedom Square was the location where U.S. President George W. Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addressed a crowd of around 100,000 people in celebration of the 60th anniversary marking the end of World War II. During this event, Georgian-Armenian Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live grenade at President Bush while he was speaking in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him.

...
Wikipedia