The main central square of Djibouti City, Place du 27 Juin is where the city's formal face presents itself. Government buildings, the National Assembly, and several of the city's older colonial-era structures line the square and the streets radiating from it. The square itself is pleasant enough in the early morning or late afternoon; midday heat makes lingering uncomfortable. It's a useful orientation point for first-time visitors and a hub for the handful of formal sights in the European Quarter. The independence monument here marks the transition from French Somaliland to the Republic of Djibouti.
Place du 27 Juin
A story
The square's name commemorates 27 June 1977, the date Djibouti gained independence from France after more than a century as French Somaliland and then the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. The old colonial name, Place Ménélik, honoured the Ethiopian emperor — a telling reminder of the geopolitical pressures this tiny territory has always navigated between its larger neighbours.