Alemtsehay Wodajo’s Cultural Center Opens in Historic Addis Ababa Residence

By Yemane Berhanu & Addis Getachew

On Saturday, April 26, a long-anticipated dream takes tangible form in the heart of Ethiopia’s capital, where a 125-year-old historic mansion opens its doors as the Taytu Cultural and Education Center. Founded by the revered Ethiopian actress, playwright, and poet Alemtsehay Wodajo, the center is both a monument to heritage and a stage for the future of Ethiopian dramatic arts.

The house itself is steeped in lore and once carried a bold offer.

Set amidst the storied streets of Arada, just steps away from the Church of St. George and the imperial statue of Emperor Menelik II, the center occupies a residence once built for Bitwoded Haile Giorgis Wolde Michael, a high official during Menelik’s reign.

Legend has it the house was once offered to the emperor himself. Its original owner sought to gift the home to Menelik, believing the sightline to the church from its upper windows would appeal to the emperor’s piety.

Menelik, unimpressed, reportedly replied with a signature blend of humility and command: “How dare a nobleman offer me a house when the whole country is my home?”

A century later, the house’s legacy continues under new stewardship. Alemtsehay, who returned to Ethiopia in 2018 after 24 years in exile, has transformed the property into a vibrant space for learning, performance, and cultural preservation. The compound features open-air stages, art galleries, and curated exhibitions of photography, artifacts, and Ethiopian visual art. It will serve as both an educational institution for aspiring stage actors and a cultural hub for visitors.

“This was one of my two dreams while in exile,” Alemtsehay said at a press briefing on April 24, two days before the center’s official inauguration. “To build a center named after Empress Taytu Betul, and to erect a monument in her honor.” Empress Taytu, the formidable 19th-century queen consort and strategist behind Ethiopia’s victory at the Battle of Adwa, remains a central muse in Alemtsehay’s creative imagination.

The restoration of the house—funded with over 17 million birr—was supported by architect Fasil Giorgis, who donated his firm’s services pro bono.

While abroad, Alemtsehay established the original Taytu Cultural Center in the United States. Under her direction, the center staged more than 60 plays across 27 states, as well as in Canada and Australia, offering monthly programs in poetry, music, and indigenous languages to diaspora communities hungry for connection to home.

“I acted as Taytu abroad. Now, I must perform her here,” she said, underscoring her commitment to re-grounding her art—and her homage to Ethiopian heroines—on native soil.

Bitwoded Haile Giorgis was more than a mayor—he was a visionary statesman whose legacy helped shape the foundations of modern Ethiopia. As Addis Ababa’s second mayor—following the city’s founding under the guidance of Empress Taytu—he guided the capital through its formative years. But his influence extended far beyond civic administration. He was the country’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, its first Minister of Trade, and, effectively, its first Prime Minister.

It is this legacy that Alemtsehay honors with reverence. Deeply inspired by the Empress, whom she sees as the embodiment of Ethiopian feminine power, Alemtsehay named her cultural center in her honor.

When Alemtsehay first encountered the estate, she says its architectural character spoke to her.

“When I first saw the house, it spoke to me,” Alemtsehay recalled. “It’s clear Haile Giorgis was a man far ahead of his time.”

Haile Giorgis, one of Ethiopia’s most powerful nobles during the Emperor’s reign and later under the ill-fated Lij Iyasu, held numerous groundbreaking roles. Initially appointed as Negadras—a position akin to commerce minister—he was elevated to the title of Bitwoded under Lij Iyasu, solidifying his political influence, which was further cemented through marriage to Sehin Mikael, daughter of King Mikael of Wollo and half-sister to the emperor-designate.

But the house he once called home had fallen into neglect.

Decades of use as a municipal office and later a First Instance Court, carried the wear of its bureaucratic past. Crowds of litigants once overwhelmed its rooms and corridors. Yet, she saw through the decay, recognizing the structure’s potential to inspire a new generation.

Securing the house, with the support of city authorities and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, was the first step. Restoring it became a monumental task—one requiring not just funding but vision. For that, she turned to Fasil Giorghis, a leading figure in architectural conservation and an associate professor at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture.

Fasil, who recently led the restoration of medieval castles in Gondar, praised the home’s construction as a rare architectural hybrid—part of a short-lived wave of elite residences that diverged sharply from Ethiopia’s traditional circular homes. “These residences were more than homes,” Fasil said. “They were symbols of stature, owned by individuals at the highest levels of power.”

Constructed with reinforced stone and mud at the ground level, and soaring upper floors supported by juniper timber beams, the residence reflected the finest craftsmanship of the era. Wood was used extensively—for columns, verandahs, doors, and windows, many of which were fitted with glass panes that lent the home an uncommon elegance.

Fasil credits Indian and Armenian artisans, whose influence was instrumental in shaping this unique architectural blend. Their work, he explained, marked a significant departure from Ethiopia’s predominantly circular vernacular architecture. “One of the defining features of these elite structures is their embrace of rectangular layouts, which contrasted with the circular tukuls common across the countryside,” he said.

The new Taytu Center represents more than a cultural institution; it is a resurrection of memory. And perhaps most poignantly, a place where the voices of Ethiopia’s past and its rising generation can meet on common ground—one stage at a time.