Asmara
The name Asmara comes from "Arbate Asmara." It means "they (feminine)
united the four." Oral tradition holds that there
were four small villages in this area which were fighting with each
other. The women of the villages got together and worked
out a plan to end the fighting and unite the four as one village.
Asmara remained a small village until 1897. In that year, Ferdinando
Martini, the first Italian civil governor of Eritrea,
transferred the capital from Massawa to Asmara. Italian architecture
prevails in the center city. The main avenues are shaded
by palms and other trees. Bougainvillea flowers are everywhere. Both the
top floor of Nyala hotel and the Cherhi bar offer
vistas of the city.
Liberation Avenue is the center of city life. It extends from Government
Administrative Center eastward to September First
Stadium. Asmara Theater (built in 1918), the City Administration, the
Ministry of Education, the Supreme Court, the Catholic
Cathedral and the Central Bank are all on Liberation Avenue. In the late
afternoon and early evenings, Asmara residents stroll
up and down the avenue to meet their friends and enjoy coffee, tea,
fruit drinks and pastries at one of the bars and coffee
shops.
There are many beautiful churches and mosques in Asmara. The Catholic
Cathedral on Liberation Avenue was constructed in
Lombard style in 1922. The main mosque, Khulafa el Rashidin, was built
in 1937 with Dekemhare travertine and Carrara
marble. Inda Mariam, the main Orthodox church, was built between 1917
and 1920. Both Khulafa el Rashidin and Inda
Mariam are a few blocks northeast of the Catholic Cathedral.
The former Ghibi or palace, residence of various colonial rulers, is
across from the Government Administrative Center at the
western end of Liberation Avenue. Reopened as the National Museum after
Eritrea was liberated in May 1991, it was built by
Ferdinando Martini, the first Italian civil administrator, in 1897. For
a brief period in the 1940s it was an English school. The
museum has sections on art, culture and the independence struggle as
well as a lovely garden.
The extensive central market, north of the Catholic Cathedral, is worth
visiting. There are stalls grouped in sections for grain,
vegetables, spices, used parts, used furniture and clothing, baskets,
pottery, crafts carved from wood, and textiles and clothing
among other things. Gold and silver jewelry can be found in the streets
between the main mosque and the Government
Administration Center.
** To UNSUBSCRIBE from dehai, send mail to: majordomo@primenet.com **
** with the following text in the body of your mail: **
** unsubscribe dehai your-email-address **