15 August 2024
1/15 Meskel Square was established by Emperor Haile Selassie in the 1960s, defined by structures such as the Finfinne Building (background centre) and the Imperial Insurance Company Building (centre)
2/15 Following the revolution of 1974, the square was renamed Revolution Square and expanded to its current scale. It hosted the fourth anniversary celebrations of the revolution in 1978
3/15 After the fall of the military junta in 1991, Meskel Square regained its name and became a crucial part of urban life. The terraced steps were used as running tracks, as recorded in 2000
Credit: Peter Marlow / Magnum
4/15 The square was renovated in 2020, with much-needed repairs made and the stone steps replaced with concrete
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
5/15
Credit: Benmet Fekadu
6/15 Since the creation of Meskel Square in the 1960s, the surrounding area has undergone intense development. After years as a freely accessible public space, entrance to Meskel Square is now subject to payment of 20 birr (£0.30)
Credit: Benmet Fekadu
7/15 The connection to the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum, designed by Fasil Giorghis in 2010, has been improved by the recent renovation
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
8/15 However, the relationship between the square and buildings along the square’s northern edge continues to be severed by the elevated light-rail line, constructed in 2015
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
9/15 Two storeys of parking have been built under the square, accessed by lifts and stairs held in glass enclosures above ground
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
10/15
Credit: Benmet Fekadu
11/15
Credit: Benmet Fekadu
12/15 Cafés and shops have been built into the southern wall and large screens installed
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
13/15
Credit: Benmet Fekadu
14/15 Though the square is not used in the same ways as before the renovation, new uses – such as games of pool – have emerged
Credit: Bemnet Fekadu
15/15 The festival of Meskel, celebrated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, continues to be held in Meskel Square, drawing together thousands of people around the demera, a large bonfire lit at the centre of the square
Credit: Aron Simeneh
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Despite its transformations over time, Addis Ababa’s main square is the city’s most important and powerful public open space
Meskel Square came into existence in the 1960s to host the annual religious celebration of Meskel. Meaning ‘cross’ in Amharic, Meskel is celebrated by believers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and commemorates the Roman Empress Helena of Constantinople finding the cross on which Christ was crucified. On 26 September, on the eve of Meskel, a large cone‑shaped bonfire – the demera – is lit in the square to replicate the process by which the location of the cross was revealed to Helena. Inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site in 2013, Meskel continues to be celebrated in Meskel Square in the presence of thousands of orthodox believers, as well as church leaders, government officials, dignitaries and tourists.
Up until 1961, Meskel was celebrated near Kidus Giorgis Church to the north of the city. At the time, this was one of the three main nodes of the city’s early development, along with the Menelik Palace and the main railway station. Emperor Haile Selassie decided to move the annual festivities southwards to the circular junction near Kidus Estifanos Church, which was inaugurated in 1961. The public space, then known as Estifanos Square and which would become present‑day Meskel Square, was characterised by naturally sloping topography to the south and wide open land to the west, perfect for gathering for the demera festivities. The house of royal dignitary Ras Birru Wolde Gabriel, constructed in the 1880s and now the Addis Ababa Museum, was perched high above the square’s southern slopes.
The construction of mixed‑use roadside developments in the 1960s, such as the Imperial Insurance Company Building by the French architect Henri Chomette and the Finfinne Building by the Italian architect Arturo Mezzedimi, began to define the space. With the inauguration in 1961 of the nearby Africa Hall, designed by Mezzedimi and the first modern conference facility in Africa, and the new Haile Selassie Airport in 1962, the location of this square on the north–south axis of the city became a growing centre. The name of the site was changed to Meskel Square in 1963.
With the revolution of 1974, the communist military junta, known as the Derg, changed the name of the square to Abiyot (Revolution) Square; the socialist regime desired a larger and more impressive space for government‑sponsored military marches. The planning and design were tasked to the Hungarian architect Károly Polónyi and the construction was supervised by the Ethiopian engineer Makonnen Mulat, who was also the mayor of the city at the time. To accommodate the expansion of the square to the south, the project appropriated parts of the compound of Ras Birru Wolde Gabriel as well as the Juventus sports club and St Joseph Catholic Boys School. Following the existing topography, Polónyi designed stepped seating in the shape of a crescent, which was constructed in natural stone and earth with grass infill, cascading down to a vast central plaza. Holding up to 400,000 people, the same general layout remains today.
In 1978, in preparation for the fourth anniversary of the revolution and to celebrate the victory of the war with Somalia, a large podium was constructed which could seat 300 VIP guests and important dignitaries; the first head of state to take a seat on the podium was former Cuban president Fidel Castro in 1978. The podium was erected against the face of an existing building the other side of the street to the north of the square, and a gigantic portrait of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin was installed on the retaining walls to the south. Steel fences were added along the bottom steps of the plaza to manage public access, and two large steel arches were installed to the south and east where roads entered the square. Revolution Square became a space of intimidation and powerplay, in contrast to the socialist rhetoric of the public and space for collective ownership.
Meskel Square regained its name when the military junta fell in 1991. During the era of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which dominated politics from 1991 until 2019, the square underwent a few further transformations, of which the most significant addition was on its eastern wall. The Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum was built in memory of those massacred by the Derg regime in the 1970s. The new museum, designed by Ethiopian architect Fasil Giorghis in 2010, was built on the existing footprint of the retaining wall. The stone from the demolished wall was reused to construct a cascading structure following the terraced landscape of the square. Other changes to the square included the widening of the pedestrian routes from the plaza towards the Addis Ababa Museum and the neighbouring Addis Ababa Exhibition Center, built in 1983. The construction in 2015 of the elevated light-rail line along the northern edge created a barrier between the square and the buildings along the street that persists to this day.
‘Access to the square is now subject to payment. This simple act rejects the notion of free and equal access for all the city’s residents’
Unless occupied for specific pre‑organised activities, the square continued to be free and accessible to all citizens and became part of the urban life of the city. The steps were used for jogging, aerobics and other sports activities, while the plaza was habitually used for football matches. The Great Ethiopian Run, an international sports event, started and ended in this space, a tradition that continues today. The square was used for pop‑up markets, concerts, simply sitting and enjoying the panorama of the city from the highest steps, and at times a refuge for unhoused people, who used the grassy steps to rest. Meskel Square served as an important meeting point, car park and bus terminal. It was the site of political clashes, demonstrations and rallies, but also a space of reconciliation and celebration.
In 2020, works began on the renovation of the square as part of the Beautifying Sheger initiative of the present government, led by prime minister Abiy Ahmed. The stepped seats, plaza and surrounding public areas were in bad shape and in need of repair; upgrades of public facilities like toilets and parking areas were also necessary. The concept design of this public square was spearheaded by Ethiopian architect Bisrat Kifle and colleagues from other practices, while the construction was carried out by China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), which had recently completed the expansion of Bole International Airport to the south‑east of Addis Ababa along with several other large infrastructure projects in the country.
Inaugurated in 2021, the design retains the footprint of the cascading steps and plaza, including access to the square from important vehicular and pedestrian linkages in the east and west. The most significant addition is two floors of underground parking under the plaza itself, accommodating parking spaces for 1,400 vehicles. Stairs and lifts encased in glass enclosures have been added on the plaza to allow access to the underground parking, a design idea aimed not to obstruct views from the steps to the plaza. A total of 140 public toilets and 220 public showers have also been integrated underground and within the upper decks of the steps, to be used by the public during events. Above ground, the terraced steps, designed for seating as well as running, were changed from stone to concrete, retaining the grass infill. Tucked into the south wall, cafés and shops have been added, with stone‑clad facades that blend into the retaining wall and serve as a backdrop to this spectacular space. Direct and wider pedestrian access from the square to the bordering Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum and well‑lit stairs to the Addis Ababa Museum and the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center have enhanced the relationship between these buildings and the square.
‘It is crucial that free and equal access to this urban space is not hindered in any way, to bring back much‑needed vibrancy’
Large digital screens have also been installed against the south wall, and lighting has been added across the whole square. Security cameras and personnel are now in place, allowing the square to be used without fear of vandalism or threat to people’s safety, including the most vulnerable in society. Women, children, older people and people with disabilities are usually not given due consideration and this added security is an essential step forward for a more inclusive use of Meskel Square.
Substantial investment has ameliorated this space, and most of the problems – the lack of public car parking, toilets, lighting, areas for refreshment, security – have been resolved through its renovation. It is also true that the usability of Meskel Square for sanctioned festivities has improved, and the steps have become a place for rest and contemplation, with a panoramic view of the growing skyline of Addis Ababa to the west. But the steps and plaza are not open to the jogging and aerobic sport activities that previously used to happen on a daily basis, and spontaneous gatherings and activities are less frequent. Access to the square is now subject to payment, and though some people might consider the cost to be low (at time of writing the fee is 20 birr, around £0.30), this simple act automatically rejects the notion of free and equal access for all the city’s residents, regardless of their income or social standing. There is no permanent boundary preventing entry – just some construction tape between large planters – but guards ensure that visitors pay the fee. Strategies of inclusion should be prioritised and an alternative source of funding secured.
Outdoor public spaces – large and small – are an intrinsic part of communal life in Ethiopia. From the scale of the domestic yard to the street to a square in a neighbourhood, these are sites of shared societal values and are used every day: for religious and cultural festivities, weddings and funerals, gatherings of local community associations, impromptu sports activities and local markets. Meskel Square has been such a place and much more for residents of Addis Ababa: an inherent part of the life and pulse of the city. It is crucial that free and equal access to this urban space is not hindered in any way, to bring back much‑needed vibrancy, life and colour. In a city in dire need of freely accessible public space, Meskel Square should not sit silently but be activated so it can continue to be the dynamic space it has historically been in the heart of Addis Ababa, the capital of Africa.