The Cinema Impero (lit. "Empire Cinema") is an Art Deco-style cinema in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. [1] It was built in 1937 by the colonial authorities in Italian Eritrea.
The Cinema Impero (lit. "Empire Cinema") is an Art Deco-style cinema in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. [1] It was built in 1937 by the colonial authorities in Italian Eritrea.
Cinema Impero was the largest movie theater constructed in Asmara during the last period of the Italian colony of Eritrea. It was named after the conquest of Ethiopia by Benito Mussolini and his proclamation of the Italian Empire.
The building still houses a cinema today, and it is considered by the experts one of the world's finest examples of Art Déco style building. [2]
Cinema Impero is still structurally sound after 70 years, escaping damage during the several conflicts that have affected the Horn of Africa over the past century.
It is a tourist attraction in modern Asmara – along with the famous Fiat Tagliero Building and some other Italian-period structures of colonial Eritrea (including the Presidential Palace and the City Hall) – that have made Asmara a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2017. [3]
The building structure has not been substantially altered since its construction, as designed by architect Mario Messina. [4] Most of the equipment and the seats are all original. Forty-five round lights decorate the front with 'Cinema Impero' in illuminated letters, mounted vertically on the façade.
Several pairs of doors lead into the cinema. Each door has an impressive large semi-circular handle forming a full circle with its partner when both are closed.
"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 Eritrean forces and earned their independence. Eritrea officially celebrated its 1st anniversary of independence on April 27, 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. 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.
Colonial architecture is an architectural style from a mother country that has been incorporated into the buildings of settlements or colonies in distant locations. Colonists frequently built settlements that synthesized the architecture of their countries of origin with the design characteristics of their new lands, creating hybrid designs.
The Fiat Tagliero Building is a Futurist-style service station in Asmara, Eritrea. It was completed in 1938 and designed by the Italian engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi.
Giuseppe Pettazzi was an Italian Art Deco and Futurist civil engineer of the 1930s.
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.
Articles related to Eritrea include:
Villa Somalia is a building in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. It serves as the official residential palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia.
Impero may refer to:
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital 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.
The Asmara President's Office is the building, in Italian neoclassical style, where the President of Eritrea lives and rules the country.
The Great Architecture of Mumbai blends Gothic, Victorian, Art Deco, Indo-Saracenic & Contemporary architectural styles. Many buildings, structures and historical monuments remain from the colonial era. Mumbai, after Miami, has the second largest number of Art Deco buildings in the world.
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.
Enda Mariam Cathedral is an Eritrean Orthodox church in Asmara, Eritrea. The cathedral is located on Arbate Asmara Street.
Eritrean capital, Asmara is located 100 km inland from the coast. Giving the Pre-Axumite archelogical evidence found in Asmara around Sembel Called the Ona culture, Asmara's history go 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 has been 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.
Bar Zilli is a building located in central Asmara, Eritrea. Currently, it operates as a restaurant and it serves as a commonly identifiable landmark to Asmara residents.
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