Villa Somalia

Villa Somalia (Somali: Madaxtooyada Soomaaliya, Arabic: فيلا الصومال‎) is a building in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. It serves as the official residential palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia.

Villa Somalia
General information
Town or cityMogadishu
CountrySomalia
Coordinates2.040833°N 45.335278°E / 2.040833; 45.335278
Current tenantsMohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, President of Somalia
Construction startedNovember 1, 1922 (1922-11-01)
CompletedOctober 1, 1936 (1936-10-01)
Website
villasomalia.gov.so

History

The edifice was built—in partially modern art deco style—by the colonial authorities in Italian Somaliland, serving as a residence for the Governors.[1]

Villa Somalia (originally called Villa del Viceré when inaugurated in October 1936) was on high ground that overlooked Italian Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean, with access to both the harbour and Petrella airport. It was originally a large, squarish stucco building with a tiled roof.[2]

The edifice was built in the new section of the city (developed by the Italians in the late 1930s) and it was a famous symbol of modernist (art deco) architecture.

The story of Mogadishu’s Modernist buildings begins during the time of Italian colonial rule. Unlike Asmara in Eritrea and Tripoli in Libya, where the Italians built their colonial city alongside the native walled town, in Mogadishu the walls of the old medina were torn down and the occupiers’ buildings imposed in the city centre.....Another prominent building of the period is Villa Somalia, an Art Deco palace which served as the residence of the Italian governor.....it is still in good condition today, thanks to the fact that it remained the seat of whoever was internationally recognised as the leader of Somalia, with all the security that entailed. –Rakesh Ramchum[3]

Following independence in 1960, the building became the presidential palace of the President of the Somali Republic.[2] After the start of the civil war and the overthrow of the Siad Barre administration in the early 1990s, various local faction leaders fought for control of and installed themselves in the residence.

On 8 January 2007, Transitional Federal Government President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. The government subsequently relocated to Villa Somalia from its interim location at Baidoa.[4]

Today, it is the office of the President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

See also

References
  1. 1938 Foto, showing the athletic race track near the newly built Villa Somalia
  2. Reports Service: Northeast Africa series, Volume 13, Issue 1. American Universities Field Staff. 1966.
  3. Villa Somalia, an Italian era modernist building in Mogadishu
  4. "Somalia president visits Mogadishu after Ethiopian victory". Garowe Online. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

Abdul:Somalian actor

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