Monuments to visit Eritrea

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.