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. [1]
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. [1]
The former Italian government's palace was built in 1897 by Ferdinando Martini, the first Italian governor of Eritrea (now it is the Asmara President's Office). The Gibi, as it is known, was converted into the Museum of Asmara during the Ethiopian administration, when the Governor's Palace was moved to its present building.
The current city hall was built during the 1930s in typical Fascist style (called Littorio), with a central tower at the entrance adorned with "Fasci" (destroyed in March 1941, when the city was conquered by the British). It is located next to the Court House and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Eritrea, in the central section of Asmara that has been named a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2017. [2]
The Asmara City Hall appeared on Asmara's last revenue stamps, which were issued in 1960.
"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.
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 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.
The Cinema Impero is an Art Deco-style cinema in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. It was built in 1937 by the colonial authorities in Italian Eritrea.
The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara is a Roman Catholic church built in the early 1920s in Asmara, when the city was the capital of Italian Eritrea. Often called "the cathedral", it is a large Lombard Romanesque style church in the centre of the city, built in 1923 to serve as the principal church of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea.
The National Museum of Eritrea is a national museum in Asmara, Eritrea. Established in 1992 by Woldeab Woldemariam, it was originally located in the former Governor's Palace until 1997, when it was moved. The venue has since been relocated to the former Comboni Sisters School for Women.
Articles related to Eritrea include:
Villa Somalia is a building in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. It serves as the palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia.
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.
The Asmara President's Office is the building, in Italian neoclassical style, where the President of Eritrea lives and rules the country.
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.
Asmara Theatre, 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.
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. 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.
Eritrea–Italy relations is the official relationship between Italy and Eritrea. Both nations are members of the United Nations.
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.
