Italian Embassy in Addis Ababa

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The Italian embassy in Addis Ababa is the diplomatic representation of Italy in Ethiopia .

Location and organization

The embassy with a park of around 15 hectares is located about four kilometers northeast of the city center of Addis Ababa . The compound , located in the district of Yeka on a hill about 2,600 meters above sea level, is also known as Villa Italia . Until the Second World War , the complex covered around 40 hectares in a north-easterly direction along the small river Kebena, making it the largest Italian embassy complex in the world. Even today, the area is one of the largest of its kind. There are other, similarly extensive diplomatic representations in the vicinity, including the German embassy . These embassy areas are now among the few large green spaces in the urban area that has expanded over the decades to this formerly rural area.

The main entrance to Villa Italia is in the south on Tsehafi Tiezaz Afewerk Street . From there a road crosses the park in a northerly direction; the street ends at the ambassador's residence. It is a relatively compact, almost square building with a ground floor and a basement. The 154 m² reception room is worth mentioning. Side streets branch off from the central access road and lead to other buildings and facilities. On the western side are the embassy chancellery with the consular department, the service buildings of the trade department, the agency for development cooperation AICS and the military attaché staff . In the eastern area, among other things, there are horse stables and riding arenas, which are now available to private horse owners for a fee. There is also accommodation for embassy staff and a guest house on the compound .

The Ambassador of Italy in Ethiopia in Djibouti , in South Sudan , in the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Djibouti co-accredited . There is an Italian honorary consulate in Djibouti . In Addis Ababa, the embassy looks after an Italian cultural institute and a school abroad in the Arada district.

history

A first Italian embassy was located near the market in downtown Addis Ababa. In 1907, Italy received the aforementioned 40 hectares in the northeast of the city to use for its diplomatic mission. The residence, which is still in use today, was built between 1909 and 1911 according to plans by Turin architect Carlo Ceppi under the direct supervision of the ambassador Giuseppe Colli di Felizzano . From 1925 the first renovation of the residence and the construction of additional buildings began. Between 1936 and 1941, when Ethiopia was part of Italian East Africa , Villa Italia served as the country residence of the Italian viceroy and governor Amadeus of Savoy-Aosta . For security reasons, he had a wall built within the park, by which the inhabited part of almost 15 hectares was separated from the rest of the park. From 1941 to 1944, the entire site was under British military administration, after which the property, known as Villa Sahle Selassie, served as the guest house of the Emperor of Ethiopia . In the course of the resumption of diplomatic relations, Italy received back the rights of use to the area delimited by Amadeus von Savoyen, the property rights in March 1956 in return for an embassy building for Ethiopia in Rome.

The ambassador's residence was renovated in the 1960s; further extensive renovations were carried out with the support of a private Italian sponsor from 2014.

Others

After the end of the socialist regime , several Ethiopian government representatives fled to the Italian embassy in 1991. Former Foreign Minister Birhanu Bayeh and former Chief of Staff Addis Tedla are still living there (as of 2020) because Italy categorically does not extradite people who have been sentenced to death. Former Prime Minister Hailu Yimenu (probably) committed suicide in the embassy in 1991, while the Ethiopian general and interim president Tesfaye Gebre Kidan was probably so badly injured in the embassy in 2004 during a dispute by Birhanu Bayeh that he died shortly afterwards.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AICS office Addis Ababa
  2. ^ Giuliana Del Papa: Villa Italia - La Residenza dell'Ambasciata d'Italia in Etiopia . baldi.diplomacy.edu, May 2017
  3. ^ Meeting of the Ambassador Arturo Luzzi with the Commission President of the AU, January 17, 2018
  4. ^ Italian Honorary Consulate Djibouti
  5. ^ Italian cultural institute Addis Ababa
  6. ^ Italian School Addis Ababa
  7. ^ Giuliana Del Papa: Villa Italia - La Residenza dell'Ambasciata d'Italia in Etiopia . baldi.diplomacy.edu, May 2017
  8. ^ Marilena Dolce: Etiopia - i noti ospiti dell'ambasciata italiana di Addis Ababa. eritrealive.com, February 7, 2019

Coordinates: 9 ° 2 '50.9 "  N , 38 ° 47' 4.4"  E