Villa Somalia ( so, Madaxtooyada Soomaaliya, ar, فيلا الصومال) is a building in
Mogadishu
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
, the capital of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. It serves as the
palace and principal workplace of the
President of Somalia.
History
The edifice was built in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style by the colonial authorities in
Italian Somaliland
Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...
, serving as a residence for the Governors.
Villa Somalia (originally called ''Villa del Viceré'' when inaugurated in October 1936) was on high ground that overlooked
Italian Mogadishu on the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, with access to both the
harbour and
Petrella airport. It was originally a large, squarish
stucco building with a tiled roof.
The edifice was built in the new section of the city (developed by the Italians in the late 1930s) and it was a famous symbol of modernist (art deco) architecture.
Following independence in 1960, the building became the presidential palace of the President of the
Somali Republic
The Somali Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliyeed; it, Repubblica Somala; ar, الجمهورية الصومالية, Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmālīyyah) was a sovereign state composed of Somalia and Somaliland, following the unification o ...
.
After the start of the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the overthrow of the
Siad Barre administration in the early 1990s, various local faction leaders fought for control of and installed themselves in the residence.
On 8 January 2007,
Transitional Federal Government
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...
President
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. The government subsequently relocated to Villa Somalia from its interim location at
Baidoa.
Today, it is the office of the President of Somalia
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ( so, Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud, ar, حسن شيخ محمود; born 29 November 1955) is a Somali politician who has served as the president of Somalia since May 2022. He is the founder and current chairman of the Union for ...
.
Chief of Staff
Mohamed appointed Fahad Yasin to the position of
Chief of Staff for Villa Somalia
in April 2017.
On 8 September 2021 Mohamed appointed Abdisaid Muse Ali as
Chief of Staff for Villa Somalia, previously he was National Security Advisor to the President.
See also
*
Governor's Palace of Mogadishu
The Governor's Palace ( it, Palazzo del Governatore, Mogadiscio) was the seat of the governor of Italian Somaliland, and then the administrator of the Trust Territory of Somaliland. It was built during the colonial period in the capital city of Mo ...
References
External links
Video of Villa Somalia in 1991Villa Somalia on Twitter
{{Somalia italiana (Colonia)
Presidential residences
Buildings and structures in Mogadishu
Art Deco architecture
Buildings and structures completed in 1932
Italian Somaliland