The Addis Ababa City Hall ( am, አዲስ አበባ ማዘጋጃ ቤት) is a governmental department that houses the offices of the Municipality of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...

, Ethiopia.

History

Along with Africa Hall, the UNECA headquarters, the Addis Ababa city hall was one of the two projects designed to demonstrate, in the words of Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

, “that it is possible to construct grand buildings here too n Ethiopia by erecting a couple of high-profile structures. It is not their complexity or size that matter, but the maximum possible use of home-produced materials, in order to shake our wealthy middle class (which keeps its money under the mattress) from the inactivity that also binds it in the field of construction, and stimulate it to invest its assets also in building to make this ‘great village’ a city and a true great capital”. Construction commenced in 1961 and was completed in 1964. Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

received the

freedom of the city The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

on 4 February 1965 in a ceremony here, and attended a banquet in her honour that day.

Features

The structure is situated at the northern end of

Churchill Avenue Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

, and is a direct consequence of the avenue's re-routing, sitting on top of a hill overlooking the thoroughfare. The structure features various spaces – the hall, boardroom, reception room, cinema-theatre, restaurant, 4 bars, library, and panoramic terrace – making it a social as well as an administrative centre.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Addis Ababa Government buildings completed in 1964 Modernist architecture Seats of local government Government buildings in Ethiopia 1964 establishments in Ethiopia