RESTRUCTURING OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Restoration and upgrading project for the opening to the public of the National Palace of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), former Imperial Palace of Emperor Haile Selassie I, built in 1955, in the heart of the city, for the Jubilee of the 25th anniversary of the coronation of the Emperor. Expanded in 1970 to become the Imperial residence, the Palace, with its 200m long façade, comprises 14,000 m2, including a 22-hectare park designed by the English landscaper, Percy Stephen Care. It is decorated with nearly 5,000 m2 of pavilions and annexes, animal enclosures, sports areas, exploitation of the historic thermal springs of Finefine, garages for cars from the imperial collection.

Occupied until recently as the Residence of the Republic, the Monument will become a Palace Museum, open to visitors, with the presentation, in situ, of all the fittings, decorations and furniture of the imperial era. In a second phase, a museum of the imperial collections will open.