Obelisk of Axum

The Obelisk of Axum is a 24 meter high granite stele from Axum, which was in Rome from 1937 to 2005.

The stele was taken by Mussolini in 1937 to Rome and before the Colonial Office ( now the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization ) situated on the Piazza di Porta Capena. She was probably originally built between 100 and 300 AD in the holy city of Axum in Ethiopia. The pledged by Italy after the Second World War repatriation to Ethiopia was delayed for decades. In May 2002, a lightning bolt struck the obelisk and damaged him greatly. On 25 April 2005, the last of three sections was returned with a Russian Antonov- machine to Ethiopia. After the restoration of the stele was re-erected at its original location in Axum 2008.