Meyazia 27 Square (; or 5 May Square), commonly called Arat Kilo, is an important and historic intersection and surrounding neighborhood in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, located where Adwa St, King George VI St, Queen Elizabeth II St, and Development Through Cooperation Ave come together. Its name denotes 27 Miyazya (5 May), both the day when Addis Ababa fell to Italy in 1936 and was liberated in 1941. The park is under the aegis of the Addis Ababa Land Development and Urban Renewal Agency. Many buildings of the

Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...

and

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (; AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about away. ...

are near the square. The eastern side of the square is dominated by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, the western side has Addis Ababa University Department of Computer Science and the Archaeology Museum. Among the heterogeneous assortment adjacent buildings are the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parliament building, and Imperial Palace Building.

History

Meyazia 27 Square is noted for its impressive

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

built for

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

's coronation in 1930. The historic moment depicts a Lion of Judah and a circle of relief figures and monumental panels celebrating the liberation of Ethiopia. In 1936, during the occupation of Ethiopia by

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

, the monument was removed. Following the liberation of Ethiopia, the monument was rebuilt. After the

Ethiopian Revolution The Ethiopian Revolution () was a period of civil, police and military upheaval in Ethiopia to protest against the weakened Haile Selassie government. It is generally thought to have begun on 12 January 1974 when Ethiopian soldiers began a rebel ...

, the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

removed the relief of the Emperor Haile Selassie from the monument. After the end of the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

, the monument was restored.

References

{{Streets in Addis Ababa Geography of Addis Ababa Monuments and memorials in Ethiopia 1930 establishments in Ethiopia Parks established in the 1930s