Asmara Theatre (Italian : Teatro di Asmara), also known as Asmara Opera, is a theatre in Asmara, Eritrea. It was constructed in 1918 following a design by the Italian engineer Odoardo Cavagnari, with later renovations in 1936. [1]
Asmara Theatre (Italian : Teatro di Asmara), also known as Asmara Opera, is a theatre in Asmara, Eritrea. It was constructed in 1918 following a design by the Italian engineer Odoardo Cavagnari, with later renovations in 1936. [1]
The building combines elements of Romanesque Revival and neoclassicism. The painting of the ceiling of the auditorium shows the tendencies of the Art Nouveau. Indeed, the roof has paintings by Saverio Fresa with dance images. It was one of the most famous buildings in Italian Asmara.
The building was erected on a hillside in Italian Asmara, [2] at the eastern end of the north side of today's Harriet Avenue (the old Corso Italia, later named Corso Mussolini and now the main road of Asmara) and at the corner of Beleza Street. This location made it possible to make the ascent to the Opera as a monumental staircase, which is circled on both sides by a shell-shaped fountain and a Renaissance-style loggia with Corinthian columns. The rest of the exterior of the building, especially the Beleza Street side facing, is castle-like, designed with battlements and towers. From the porch, it is possible to reach the foyer, which in turn gives access to the huge auditorium. This has, in addition to the parquet floor, three additional levels and can have 750 spectators. The stage is relatively small and does not have additional technical equipment.
In 1938 the international car race called the Asmara circuit was started exactly in front of the Opera building, on the Viale Roma (now called Sematat Avenue). [3]
The building was named Teatro Asmara until after being purchased by Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1952 from the Italian owners for far below the market value. After the independence of Eritrea in 1991/93, it was dispossessed and is now state-owned property again. [4] In the foyer, there is now a cafe, and in a side building, the headquarters of the national telephone company Eritel.
In Asmara Theatre were performed many "commedie" and opera works like those of Pirandello and music by Puccini and Verdi, with soprano from the best theatres in Italy: for example, in 1951 was performed "La Patente" of Pirandello and music of Chopin. [5]
After World War II and until the 1970s even international companies performed in the Asmara Theatre with famous "artistic & musical tours", like those of Renato Rascel and Renato Carosone. The theatre was still occasionally used in 2012.
"Eritrea" is an ancient name, associated in the past with its Greek form Erythraia, Ἐρυθραία, and its derived Latin form Erythræa. This name relates to that of the Red Sea, then called the Erythræan Sea, from the Greek for "red", ἐρυθρός, erythros. The Italians created the colony of Eritrea in the 19th century around Asmara, and named it with its current name. After World War II, Eritrea was annexed to Ethiopia. In 1991, the communist Ethiopian government was toppled by TPLF and Eritrean forces and earned their independence. Eritrea officially celebrated its 1st anniversary of independence on May 24, 1994.
Asmara, or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean Highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia. In 2017, the city was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved modernist architecture. The site of Asmera was first settled in 800 BC with a population ranging from 100 to 1,000. The city was then founded in the 12th century AD after four separate villages unified to live together peacefully after long periods of conflict. Under Italian rule the city of Asmara was made capital of Eritrea in the last years of the 19th century.
The Eritrean Railway is the only railway system in Eritrea. It was constructed between 1887 and 1932 during the Italian Eritrea colony and connects the port of Massawa with Asmara. Originally it also connected to Bishia. The line was partly damaged by warfare in subsequent decades, but was rebuilt in the 1990s. Vintage equipment is still used on the line.
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed.
Massawa is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for many centuries.
The Real Teatro di San Carlo, as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent to the Piazza del Plebiscito. It is the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world, having opened in 1737, decades before either Milan's La Scala or Venice's La Fenice.
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The present house seats 1,600.
The Governor's Palace is the city hall of Asmara, Eritrea. It was built during the colonial period in the city centre, in an Italian Art Deco style.
The Museo Teatrale alla Scala is a theatrical museum and library attached to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Although it has a particular focus on the history of opera and of that opera house, its scope extends to Italian theatrical history in general, and includes displays relating, for example, to the commedia dell'arte and to the famous stage actress Eleonora Duse.
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the south, Sudan in the west, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands.
Italian Eritreans are Eritrean-born descendants of Italian settlers as well as Italian long-term residents in Eritrea.
Italian Eritrea was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1869, which came under government control in 1882. Occupation of Massawa in 1885 and the subsequent expansion of territory would gradually engulf the region and in 1889 borders with the Ethiopian Empire were defined in the Treaty of Wuchale. In 1890 the Colony of Eritrea was officially founded.
The Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara, officially the Archeparchy of Asmara, more informally Asmara of the Eritreans, is the metropolitan see of the Metropolitan Eritrean Catholic Church, a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church whose territory corresponds to that of the State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It depends on the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Enda Mariam Cathedral is an Eritrean Orthodox church in Asmara, Eritrea. The cathedral is located on Arbate Asmara Street.
The Teatro Carcano is a theatre in Milan, Italy, located at 63 Corso di Porta Romana. Although now exclusively devoted to plays and dance, it served as an opera house for much of the 19th century and saw the premieres of several important operas. Completed in 1803, the theatre was commissioned by the Milanese aristocrat and theatre-lover Giuseppe Carcano and originally designed by Luigi Canonica. Over the succeeding two centuries it has undergone several restructurings and renovations and for a time in the mid-20th century functioned as a cinema.
Asmara circuit was a car race done in the main streets of Asmara, when it was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy. The Circuito was created in 1938 Italian Eritrea and was later done -with many interruptions- until 1972.
The Politeama Theatre is a theatre of Palermo. It is located in the central Piazza Ruggero Settimo and represents the second most important theatre of the city after the Teatro Massimo. It houses the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.
Eritrean capital, Asmara is located 100 km inland from the coast. Given the Pre-Axumite archeological evidence found in Asmara around Sembel called the Ona culture, Asmara's history goes back to 800 BCE. During the 20th century it has been a staging ground for Italian initiatives in East Africa, collateral of Britain's colonial politics, and subject of the expansion of Ethiopia’s empire until 1993 when the sovereign state of Eritrea was established. Only the large cluster of buildings built in the Avant-Garde stands out of the multifaceted historical look of this city and its urban core almost entirely unchanged for over seventy years.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Asmara, Eritrea. Asmara was under Italian colonial rule from 1889 until 1941.
The history of cinema in Eritrea dates back to the country's colonial rule under the Kingdom of Italy. In connection with the growth of Italian cinema in the 1930s, so too did the rise of cinema occur in Asmara, Eritrea. In 1937, Asmara's Opera was converted into a dual-use theatre and cinema. By the following year, Asmara had a total of nine movie theatres.
