| Abstract: | Addis Ababa Culture and Tourism Bureau registered about 17 historical monuments as
cultural heritage of the city. Half of the Historical Monuments are inaugurated in Arada Sub city the rest are found in different sub cities: three in Kirkos, two in Yeka, one in Lideta and
one in Nifas Silk sub city. These historical monuments had been erected with the blessing of
rulers of those times and sculptured by different foreign professional architects in different
times and places of the city. They have various motives to be inaugurated. The Historical
monuments have been erected to represent the country’s history, culture ,and political and
even statues of famous individuals from inside and outside Ethiopia. They were constructed
to dedicate the contribution these individuals have made for Ethiopia at different historical
junctures. However, for the purpose this research only seven selected historical monument of
Addis Ababa have been described well. The criteria for selecting the following historical
monuments are historical significance, aesthetic value, landmark value, political value and
social value. And except Tiglachin monument all are public monuments which are found on
road cross section of the city. The purpose of the study is to assess about the practices of
conservation and challenges in the case of monuments and statues that are found in Addis
Ababa. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather the
necessary data. The data gathering tools applied in this study were questionnaires, in-depth
interview, field observation and secondary data. The findings of the study observed that there
is no doubt about the attractiveness of the monuments and statues of Addis Ababa. They
could be visited as much as other heritages of Ethiopia are visited. But most of them are not
visited as main tourist destination areas and most of the monuments and statues are not
protected and conserved well. The study found out several challenges facing historical
monuments: accessibility problem, lack of recreational facilities in the premises and around
them, lack of promotion, lack of descriptive information, locational disadvantage, lack of
maintenance and restoration, lack of awareness among host community, cleanliness and
hygiene problems, and having controversial historical meaning and value. |
