Things to see and do Eritrea

It is located behind the Coptic Cathedral Enda Mariam, after Afabet Street.

This former caravanserai, built in 1914, is now home to two different kinds of activities. On the one hand, young girls in working blue are busy planting dried peppers using electric mills to make them berbéré (extremely spicy powder used in cooking). The powder thus obtained flies across the aisles of the caravanserai and there is a lot to bet that it will be coughing you quickly. Take advantage of it to see what's going on a little further. Just a few yards away from the pepper mills, there are old pneux and worn signs and a whole bunch of metal objects waiting for a second life. The noise of hammers, meuleuses and torches in action echoes in the aisles, and cans can be observed as small coal kilns (those used for the coffee ceremony) among other transformations. This is a great recycling lesson that we are taking here: nothing gets lost, everything turns out!

Also known as the mosque Kulafa Al Rashidin, the Great Mosque is, like the Catholic cathedral, visible from afar, thanks to its high white minaret surmounted by green. Built in 1938 by an Italian architect, the mosque is a mixture of Islamic, classic and rationalist styles that are found in the square opposite the entrance.

It lies behind the Great Mosque and consists of a variety of small markets, all located at a few streets. On Saturday morning, the animation is at its height, as it is the day that Thousands les Myanmarese will come to do their shopping in the capital. The most interesting (and photogenic) markets are: the spice market, the market for bric and the market for vegetables. A little further, the handicraft market is also interesting if you want to report some souvenirs.

Built in 1920 and then transformed into a cinema in the 1930 s, before being sold in 1957 to a family member of Haïlié Selassie, this is still a theatre. There are few performances and the building would need a renovation. Nevertheless, Roman architecture keeps all its stamp with its arcade gallery, which is accessed by a stone staircase in the form of a horseshoe, in a green setting reminiscent of Mediterranean gardens. If you have the opportunity to enter, you will see the ceiling of the show room a beautiful fresco of eight women making the round, surrounded by a decorative frise with eight peacocks.

The entrance is marked by two perfectly symmetrical square towers surmounted by a conical roof; it's inside them that they find the bells. They are located in the main building, which is in retreat. Apart from the two towers, there is a metal portico to which large stones are hanging in the curious shapes. They are actually the ancestors of the bells: strangely, they really ring when you hit them with a stick. On the front of the main building, above the doors, you can see monumental colored mosaics depicting religious scenes. Inside, the walls are covered with paintings inspired by the scenes of the life of Christ and the Old Testament.

This former service station is certainly the most emblematic building in Asmara. When we look at it, it is hard to believe that we are in Africa, and that is undoubtedly the most incredible example of futuristic architecture across the continent. It is part of these modernist industrial buildings dating from Italian colonization. The Fiat teaches itself in large letters on the central part, translated into tigrinya at the top of the building. Designed to look like an airplane, it has a central tower and two wavy side wings, as well as a rounded glass bay reminiscent of a cockpit. It is very convincing when you see it in front of us!

The museum is located in a former convent at a few streets of the Presidential Palace.

The collections are rather small and are not of great interest but, in the middle of the stuffed animals and some paintings representing the recent history of the nation, there are interesting parts from the excavations of the country's archaeological sites: ruins of the Axoumite port of Adulis, carved tombstones from the Dahlak Islands, dating from the ninth in the th century, and some sabéens objects. Old wooden doors, as well as the Épée sword, are also part of this small museum.

Built in 1872 by Werner Munzinger, the imperial palace was used as a summer residence by Emperor Haile Selassie at the time of the federation with Ethiopia. Like most buildings in the city, it suffered terribly during the war of Independence and nothing has been done since then to renovate it. It is possible to approach it and turn it around; even though its state of conservation is far from great, the carved wooden doors and windows are worth a look. The view of the old town from outside the palace is one of the most beautiful views you can have on Massawa.

Keren is known for its markets and wandering in the for a afternoon is a good way to immerse itself with the atmosphere of the city. Just behind the Keren Hotel is a covered market where you sell fuits and vegetables; and just behind it begins a series of small, beaten alleys that are the of the city. A whole aisle is dedicated to gold and silver sellers, and then several aisles see themselves with vendors of fabrics and tailors; the latter, sitting behind their sewing machine, are waiting peacefully for the next hem to be made. A little further, small aisles lead to another covered market: this time, it is the grain market, where many cereal varieties are piled together alongside others in large canvas bags. Right on the right is the wicker market, and there are also a few shops selling basketry and pottery.

Situated on a hill in the north-east of the city, at 1 460 m above sea level, the old Egyptian fort still dominates Keren. The guns of the Ethiopian army are still there, and it is difficult not to notice the ruins of the former Imperial Palace lying at the foot of the mountain, testimony of the war against Ethiopia. From here, we have a splendid view of the surrounding mountains and the city itself.

Not far from the camel market, about 2 km from the city centre, is the sanctuary of Maryam Dearit, also known as the "Madonna of the Baobab".
At the end of the th century, the Sisters of Charity built a sanctuary inside this immense baobab; the trunk was dug and a black statue of the Virgin was placed there. The tree is so broad that it is possible to bring about ten people inside the sanctuary at the same time. Moreover, in 1941, during the war, Italian soldiers took refuge in the baobab while British planes bombed the region and, although the trunk was affected, the soldiers survived and the sanctuary was not damaged. Belief wants the Madonna to have curative and spiritual virtues; it has thus become an important pilgrimage place. Every year, on 29 May, hundreds of pilgrims gather there and carry the statue on their shoulders in a festive atmosphere where songs and dances mingle with prayers. Another tigrine belief is that baobab is the source of fertility. If a woman wants to find a husband or a child, she must prepare coffee in the purest Eritrean tradition, in the shade of the tree; if a traveller passes through and accepts a cup of coffee, his wish will be fulfilled.

At a time not so distant, a railway line connected Asmara to Keren. During the Italian colonization, the train took two trips per week and played an important role in the transportation of agricultural goods produced in the fertile regions of the West to the highlands of the capital. Nowadays, the railway no longer exists and the train station serves bus bus stations. The architecture of the building, the heritage of the Italians, is worth a detour. The small cafe at the end of the building is the perfect place to watch her off the premises that come from the West and go to the capital, or come to the Marché market to buy cattle before returning to their region. To get there you must take the road from Agordat on the Giro Fiori and continue straight for about 400 m.

Located in a building opposite the train station, this is where you must come and inquire about the train's next departure. It usually starts on Sunday at 8 pm, when a minimum of 10 participants are reached. The train goes down until Nefasit before returning to Asmara in about 5 hours. The journey costs ERN 750 per person and there is no need for travel permits. It is possible to charter the train for groups to get down to Massawa.

This mosque, which can visit, is the oldest mosque in Massawa and probably one of the oldest in Africa; massive, it was rebuilt after an earthquake.