The Freedom Monument, located in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, is the most famous and important monument in the city, dating back to 1959 AD, when the new leader of the Iraqi Republic, Brigadier General Abdul-Karim Qasim, ordered the construction of a monument to celebrate the declaration of Iraq's independence. It was to be located in the heart of Baghdad's central business district, overlooking Tahrir Square and the Jumhuriya Bridge. The monument symbolizes the people's struggle against tyranny and pays tribute to the deep history of Iraqi art by including Abbasid and Babylonian frescoes.