Labourers building the zero-kilometre museum around the Piassa area hang their clothes on wires outside the construction site. The museum is being built as a memorial for Adwa, a battle in which Ethiopian forces defeated invading Italians in 1896. This defeat for the Italians left a lasting impression as Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy in the late 1930s, organized a huge army 40 years later to recapture the fleeting glory. The museum construction at a 77pc completion rate is handled by the Mega Projects Office under the City Administration for over three billion Birr.

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