Charing Cross, officially known as Faisal Chowk, is a major road intersection in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Located on Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam, it is a popular site for protests within Lahore.[1]
History
The area was part of Donald Town, a neighborhood named after Sir Donald McLeod, who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab between 1865 and 1870.[2] The planned intersection was developed at a juncture between Queens', Montgomery and Mall roads. It came to be known as Charing Cross, which historians believe is after Charing Cross in London.[3][4] The name is recorded in a 1908 publication by G.R. Elmslie titled “Thirty Five Years in the Punjab” (1908, Edinburgh). A 1918-19 ‘B&R Report’ refers to it as the ‘Charing Cross Scheme’.
A white marble pavilion, designed by Bhai Ram Singh, was constructed at Charing Cross in 1901 to mark Queen Victoria's jubilee as the first Empress of India. A bronze statue of Victoria, cast in London in 1900, stood at the site in the pavilion from 1904 until 1951, when it was replaced by a model of the Quran.[1] The statue now stands at Lahore Museum.[5]
To commemorate the 2nd Islamic Summit Conference held at Lahore in 1974, the Islamic Summit Minar was constructed at the site.[1] In 1981 Charing Cross was officially renamed Faisal Chowk to honour King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.[6] In February 2013 a suicide bomber murdered at least 14 people at a protest in the area.[1]
↑ 1,01,11,21,3Imtiaz, H. and Mustafa, M., 2018. The Charing Cross: Unfolding a Genius Loci in Lahore, Pakistan. Cities People Places : An International Journal on Urban Environments, 3(1), pp.1–16.
↑Hunter, William Wilson. Labanakhya to Mysore. United Kingdom, Trübner, 1881.
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