The city's immediate predecessor as the capital of Ethiopia, Entoto, was established by Menelik II. Menelik, initially the King of the Shewa province, had found Mount Entoto a useful base for military operations in the south of his realm, and in 1879 he visited the reputed ruins of the medieval town and the unfinished rock church. His interest in the area grew when his wife Taytu began work on a church on Mount Entoto, and Menelik endowed a second church in the area. After some time, Entoto was found to be unsatisfactory as capital because of its cold climate, lack of water, and an acute shortage of firewood. In 1886 settlement began in the valley south of the mountain in a place called Finfinne in Oromo, a name which refers to the presence of hot springs. The area was previously inhabited by various Oromo clans. The site was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul. Initially, she built a house for herself near the "Filwoha" hot mineral springs, where she and members of the Showan Royal Court liked to take mineral baths. Other nobility and their staff and households settled in the vicinity, and Menelik expanded his wife's house to become the Imperial Palace which remains the seat of government in Addis Ababa today. In 1886, the city was renamed to Addis Ababa as the capital of Menelik's kingdom of Shewa. It become the capital of Ethiopia in 1889, when Menelik became Emperor. The town grew by leaps and bounds. One of Emperor Menelik's contributions that are still visible today is the planting of numerous eucalyptus trees along the city streets.