National Palace (Addis Ababa)

The Eyubelyu (National) Palace (Amharic: የብሔራዊ ቤተ መንግሥት), formerly Eyubelyu (Jubilee) Palace, is a palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is an official residence of the President of Ethiopia since the Derg government.

Prior to the date, it was the house of Emperor Haile Selassie until the 1974 coup d'état.

The palace was built in 1955 and named Jubilee to mark the Silver Jubilee of Emperor Haile Selassie. After a coup attempt in the Guenete Leul Palace in 1960, the Emperor made the Jubilee Palace his main residence. However, the seat of government remained at the Imperial Palace. In 1957, it has been called the Ministry of Imperial Court, also known as "Ye Gebi Ministry". The palace was expanded and doubled in size between 1966 and 1967.

The Jubilee Palace was the site of the dethronement of Emperor Haile Selassie in September 1974. Ten low ranking military officers appeared before the Emperor in the palace library and read him the statement of the Derg, which officially removed him from the throne. The Derg renamed the palace the National Palace, which it still bears today. The Derg used this palace for state ceremonies involving visiting heads of state, state banquets and receptions. The Derg added a swimming pool to the grounds. With the fall of the Derg, and the proclamation of the Federal Republic, the National Palace became the official residence of the president of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The president has a ceremonial role and uses the palace for official functions. In 2005, a proclamation was issued for streamline work in the Administration Office where 13 palaces were administered by the office, which was charged for organizing state reception. The office has 14 directorates and 1,060 employees.

In 2019, The Ethiopian government announced in its intention to build a new official presidential residence, after which the National Palace inaugurated a new museum. It continues to house the president until that time.

The Administration restored 10 old buildings constructed by Emperor Menelik II and his daughter Empress Zewditu inside Menelik Palace. The renovation was undertaken by Vareno consultancy. (So this para refers to the old Palace or Gibbe, not the National Palace)

Text adapted from “National Palace, Addis Ababa” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Palace (Addis Ababa) ranks #2,453 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #2 of the 2 mapped in Ethiopia. Founded 1955 — one of 177 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,302 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. See how Ethiopia compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗