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.Imtiaz, 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.
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.Hunter, William Wilson. Labanakhya to Mysore. United Kingdom, Trübner, 1881. 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.N. Naz and Z. Ashraf, Transformation of Urban Open Spaces of Lahore: From Charing Cross to Faisal Square, Pak. J. Engg. & Appl. Sci. Vol. 2, Jan 2008, pp. 65-78 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.Imtiaz, 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. The statue now stands at Lahore Museum.
To commemorate the 2nd Islamic Summit Conference held at Lahore in 1974, the Islamic Summit Minar was constructed at the site.Imtiaz, 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. In 1981 Charing Cross was officially renamed Faisal Chowk to honour King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.Baqir M.; Lahore: Past and Present, Qindeel, Press, Lahore (1984), 456 In February 2017 a suicide bomber murdered at least 14 people at a protest in the area.Imtiaz, 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.
References
External links Majid Sheikh, Walking to Charing Cross, Dawn.com