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The Fiat Tagliero Building
From mid-19th century to the 1940-ies Eritrea was an Italian colony. The Italian influence on culture and architecture was heavy in these years Gems of a current city (Art Deco) and ruins of ancient cities (not Art Deco)
Two years before we started this blog I (Ake) went on a trip to Eritrea. I have spent some time digitizing the old analogue photos I took then and have written two entries about what I did and saw on this trip. The photos were taken a long time ago and their quality is low. But I still hope you will enjoy reading this. I am writing this blog entry almost twenty years after I travelled in Eritrea so my memories are quite hazy. But I wrote a journal while I was there so I get some help from that.
Asmara I arrived in
Asmara, the capital of Eritrea and the largest city in the country. Things I can tell about Asmara are
=> There were lots of cafés there. I clearly remember that the pastry in the cafés looked pretty good but did not at all taste as I expected. It was very low quality and wasn't any good. After I had tried their pastry in two or three different places I gave up on it. The
Western style architecture
There are thousands of buildings in Asmara built in various western styles such as Art Deco, futurist and modernist. coffee was good though so they got the most essential right.
=> Much of the city felt to me like it was 20 to 50 years after Western Europe when it comes to modernization. I again want to point out that my memory is hazy at best.
=> But I also remember one place where I felt that they were not behind. It was a bar/night club that was called Zahra. There I celebrated New Year with a group of Swedes I met at the hotel where I was staying. Zahra was such a cool place that it could have been in any major city in the world. It was a weird feeling to come from the city, where if felt like I had been warped back a few decades in time, and step into a totally modern really cool nightclub.
From mid-19th century to the 1940-ies Eritrea was an
Italian colony. The Italian influence on culture and architecture was heavy in these years and there are thousands of buildings in Asmara built in various western styles such as Art Deco, futurist and modernist. It is quite interesting to walk around in Asmara and admire the
Cinema Impero
Cinema Impero is an Art Deco movie theatre which opened its business in 1938. architecture. Even for me who is far from an expert absolutely loved it. I just wish I had had a good map showing me where I could see the most interesting architectural gems. The Italian influence on the city was recognised by UNESCO when they in 2017 listed Asmara as a World Heritage Site.
I have added pictures of some interesting buildings in Asmara.
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Fiat Tagliero Building - an Art Deco petrol station built in 1938.
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Cinema Impero - an Art Deco movie theatre which opened its business in 1938.
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Governor's Palace - the current city hall was erected in the 1930-ies and is another Art Deco gem.
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Cinema Roma - a movie theatre built in 1937.
=> Cinema Odeon - a movie theatre built in 1937.
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Church of Our Lady of the Rosary - a large catholic church often referred to as "the cathedral" even though it has never been one.
I and some of the Swedes I mentioned before one day went to one of the city's Art Deco movie theatres and saw a movie. The interior of the theatre was absolutely stunning. The lobby somewhat more so than the salon, because the
Cinema Odeon
The movie theatre Cinema Odeon has welcomed cineastes since 1938 seats were worn down from many years of use without proper maintenance. What made the experience a bit odd though was that the movie was played from a pirate DVD.
Asmara is centrally located in Eritrea the and therefore naturally becomes a transport hub. Since I wanted to visit several parts of the country I left and came back to Asmara several times. Each time I was there I spent a day or two there before travelling on again.
Debre Bizen The monastery
Debre Bizen is perched beautifully on a mountain top about one hour drive east of Asmara. The monastery is for monks and women aren't even allowed to come for a visit. They are so strict when it comes to the no females on the premises rule that according to rumours they don't even have hens there.
Keren Keren is a town about one and a half hours by car northwest of Asmara. I went there as a day trip from Asmara. In Keren I remember seeing a war cemetery and the local market among other things.
Senafe Senafe is a market
A bit worn at the edges
This building, probably erected in the 1930-ies or so, is very beautiful even though it is a bit run down town about two hours' drive south of Asmara. It is a town that would have seen very few foreign visitors had it not been for the site
Matara. Matara is an archaeological site with the remains of a town which had its heydays around 2,000 years ago.
Qohaito Qohaito is an archaelogical site around one and a half hour by car south of Asmara. The site holds the remains of what was a large town around 1,500 years ago.
Coffee ceremony One day when I was taking a bus to Asmara I was sitting next to a young woman. We spent a few hours together on the bus and we both had a pretty good time. When we arrived in Asmara this woman, Rahwa is her name by the way, asked me if I wanted to come and see her home. I later went to her home and I then met her mother and her sister and we all had a meal together. After we had eaten she asked me if I wanted coffee. When I said yes she opened a bag with fresh coffee beans and started to roast them herself.
Cinema Roma
I went to one of the city's Art Deco movie theatres and saw a movie. The interior of the theatre was stunning. The experience was a bit odd though because the movie was played from a pirate DVD.
She called this a coffee ceremony. It is common when people have coffee in their homes that they make coffee from fresh beans and roast and grind them before making the coffee. I enjoyed seeing that and the coffee came out absolutely awesome.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
MATARA PILLAR
An intriguing blog Ake. The lettering on this pillar, which I presume is fallen, is nor cuneiform or Sanskrit, so I wonder if you know. We saw giant pillars in Axum, Nthn Ethiopia which was quite close to the border of Eritrea.