LION DE JUDAH

At the end of Churchill Avenue, opposite the old railway station, the statue of the Lion of Judah stands on its black granite pedestal. Its bas-relief features portraits of Menelik II, Haile Selassie, Empress Zewditou and Mekonnen Wolde Mikael. It was sculpted by French artist Georges Gardet in 1930. Stolen by the Italians in 1935, the Lion of Judah remained at the foot of the Dogali monument obelisk in Rome until its return in 1960. Since then, the monument has been dedicated to the memory of Zerai Deres, a young Eritrean in revolt against Italian colonialism.