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Commissioned by Mussolini to house the Ministry for Italian Africa, the building was designed in 1938 by architects Vittorio Cafiero and Mario Ridolfi. Completed in 1952, it became the headquarters of the F.A.O. (Food and Agriculture Organization). (Food and Agriculture Organization).
As evidence of its first use, on 28 October 1937, the Axum stele, a 4th century basalt monolith transported to Rome from Ethiopia in 1937, was placed in Piazza di Porta Capena to mark the 15th anniversary of the March on Rome. The stele was removed from the square and returned to the Ethiopian government.