Villa Somalia
| Villa Somalia | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Town or city | Mogadishu |
| Country | Somalia |
| Coordinates | 2°02′27″N 45°20′07″E / 2.040833°N 45.335278°E |
| Current tenants | Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, President of Somalia |
| Construction started | November 1, 1922 |
| Completed | January 1, 1932 |
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.
The edifice was built -in partially modern art deco style- by the colonial authorities in Italian Somaliland, serving as a residence for the Governors.
Villa Somalia (originally called Villa del Vicere' 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.
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
Following independence in 1960, the building became the presidential palace of the President of the nascent Somali Republic. 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.
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