History of The Great Freedom Park in Cairo
It is considered one of the best family gardens, due to its location in a special place on freedom Street next to the Egyptian Opera House, and the "Freedom Garden" is one of the ancient gardens created by Khedive Ismail for his desire to make Cairo part of Europe, and in terms of area, the garden is larger than the Andalusian garden located in Zamalek, and it is close to the area of the Japanese garden, with an area of 7.5 acres, equivalent to 31 thousand square meters.
The "Freedom Garden" is characterized by large green spaces and palm trees, but it is surrounded by a lot of wonderful statues, and in terms of green space, it resembles the Orman Garden, known as the Botanical Garden, as well as the Fustat Garden.
The "Freedom Park" is sometimes called the "Mahmoud Mokhtar" park, because it was connected with the "Mahmoud Mokhtar" museum, one of the largest sculptors in Egypt, and the owner of the statue of the renaissance of Egypt. Still, a year ago, the park was completely separated from the museum and became under its current name, and it is one of the few famous parks. However, it is considered an artistic, cultural, political as well and entertainment shrine; it has large green spaces. The average period that visitors can spend in the park for at least an hour, and that period may increase or decrease. The park is located in a privileged location in the Zamalek neighborhood in front of the Egyptian Opera House and near the Qasr El-Nil bridge. in addition, it is a convenient place to take pictures, due to the variety of landmarks.
The history of the "Freedom Park" dates back more than 140 years, as it was established in 1876 during the urban renaissance, and it was called the Nile Park due to its presence on one of the banks of the Nile, and after a period of opening the park was closed for unknown reasons until now, but after the park was completely restored it was opened to visitors in 2001, the park includes a number of statues of 25 of the most prominent and famous figures in Egypt and the world, and one of the most famous of those statues is the statue of "Talaat Harb" who founded the Bank of Egypt, a first-class economist one of the colonial restrictions in Egypt, there is also a statue of the prince of poets "Ahmed Shawky" sitting as if writing one of his poetry verses, and a statue of Another statue of the famous leader "Abdul Monem Riad" standing tall in a military suit with binoculars in his hands, another statue of the famous Islamic thinker "Jamal al-Din al-Afghani", the founder of the Islamic modernism movement, the statue of the singer "Abdul Halim Hafez", the statue of "Saad Zaghloul", the leader of the 1919 Revolution, the statue of the poet of the Nile "Hafez Ibrahim", and many statues of world leaders and artists such as the Indian leader "Mahatma Gandhi", the Russian poet "Alexander Pushkin" and the president of Ecuador "Eloy El Faro", represented the planet of the east Umm Kulthum and the musician Mohammed Abdulwahab.
The park is open all days of the week from 9 am to 11 pm, the entrance ticket price is 10 pounds per person, photography is available for a sum of money, it is also possible to enter food, sit on the bench, play ball or any other games, and for children there are several simple games such as swings, but there are no amusements, there are several cafes for drinks and snacks, there is also a supermarket and a mosque for prayer.
Mona Mohammed, a university girl who regularly comes to practice yoga in the park, where there are large green spaces, and the park also enjoys calm and cleanliness, she said:" there is nothing to bother me while practicing yoga, and there is no one to intrude on me, oppose me, make fun of me, or expose me to verbal or looks" One of the park's pioneers advised everyone to go to the park: "you will spend a special day at a limited cost inside a picnic spot amid wonderful vibrant views, and photography enthusiasts and those looking for natural shots will enjoy the park, in addition to the walkways, walkways, seating areas and a garden cafe to have whatever drinks you want," said one of the park's pioneers, advising everyone to go to it.
The park accepts concerts and youth festivals, which makes it a popular attraction for cultural and artistic events, allowing you to enjoy the beauty of Cairo amid the breezes of the air on Summer Nights overlooking the Cairo Tower, one of the most prominent landmarks of the capital.
