Bar Zilli

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Bar Zilli (ባር ዚሊ)
1930's era Italian Art Deco (30776831685).jpg
Bar Zilli
Bar Zilli
Restaurant information
Established1930;92 years ago (1930)
Food type Eritrean cuisine
Street addressSematat St. & Beirut
City Asmara
Country Eritrea

Bar Zilli is a building located in central Asmara, Eritrea. [1] Currently, it operates as a restaurant and it serves as a commonly identifiable landmark to Asmara residents.

Contents

History

Bar Zilli was built during the late stages of Italian colonial rule [2] and was architecturally modeled according to the art style of Art Deco.

Architecture

Bar Zilli is an easily-recognizable building that was featured in a Fodor's Architectural publication. The architecture is described as featuring a "curved façade with a mix of central vertical windows and small horizontal strips at the corners are the reasons why experts have called this structure “idiosyncratic” and “distinctive.” [3]

According to a New York Times article written in 2017," The Bar Zilli building looks like an old-fashioned radio set, with windows like tuning buttons." [4]

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References

  1. "Bar-Zili".
  2. "Bar Zilli | Asmara, Eritrea Nightlife". Lonely Planet.
  3. Siegel, Suzi (August 26, 2019). "The Beautiful Architecture of Eritrea". Fodors Travel Guide.
  4. Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko de (July 10, 2017). "Art Deco Buildings Make Asmara, Eritrea, a Unesco Heritage Site (Published 2017)". The New York Times.
  5. "Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa". U.S. Embassy in Eritrea. July 10, 2017.