The most beautiful religious buildings Eritrea

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.

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.

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.

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.