CAIRO: Egypt’s iconic Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo is about to receive a facelift as part of a project aimed at revitalizing several locations across the country’s vast capital and building on their appeal to the tourism market.

The square was the center of the 2011 uprising that toppled the country’s long-serving autocrat Hosni Mubarak. In 2013, protesters again took to the streets around the square when they called for the ousting of former President Mohammad Mursi.    

Now Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has called for the historic site to be turned into a tourist destination.

The historic square was created in the 19th century, when it was initially named Ismailia Square. 

In 1952, a military-led revolution abolished the Egyptian monarchy and the square was renamed Tahrir Square, meaning liberation.