Eritrea

Asmara

WHS Score 2.93
rate
Votes 20 Average 3.38
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Votes for Asmara

2.0

  • Frank Britton
  • Mikko

2.5

  • Wojciech Fedoruk

3.0

  • Bill Maurmann
  • Hanming
  • marcel staron
  • Mihai Dascalu
  • Solivagant
  • Stanislaw Warwas
  • Thomas Buechler

3.5

  • Gernot
  • Jon Opol
  • Piotr Wasil

4.0

  • Ammon Watkins
  • Philipp Leu
  • Roger Ourset
  • Szucs Tamas
  • Truls Brekke

4.5

  • Adrian Turtschi

5.0

  • Marcobrey

Asmara: A Modernist African City is an Italian-planned colonial city based on early modernist and rationalist architecture.

The urban ensemble was designed during several stages of development on an orthogonal grid plan with diagonal axes. The city was divided into quarters following the principles of racial segregation. During the short fascist period of 1935-1941 the city received its distinct public buildings, which mostly have survived intact since then and keep being part of the Eritrean identity.

Community Perspective: both reviewers so far enjoyed the overall atmosphere of Asmara, but while the freedom of movement for the foreign tourist seems to have improved since 2006, the 2020 review reports that the state of repair of the Art Deco buildings is worsening.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Asmara: A Modernist African City (ID: 1550)
Country
Eritrea
Status
Inscribed 2017 Site history
History of Asmara
2017: Name change
From TWHS "The Historic Perimeter of Asmara and its Modernist Architecture" to WHS nomination "Asmara, Africa’s Modernist City", and then again by ICOMOS to "Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa”.
2017: Inscribed
Inscribed
2018: Name change
From Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa to Asmara: A Modernist African City
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Urban landscape: African
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (27) .
Connections of Asmara
Geography
Trivia
  • Dubbed as another WHS
    In the late 1930s the Italians changed the face of the town, with a new structure and new buildings: Asmara was called Piccola Roma (Little Rome)
Architecture
  • Art Deco
    Cinema Impero (1937)

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Early Modernism
    "It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context." (Official description)
  • Vernacular architecture
    vernacular styles from the highlands were adopted and assimilated by Italian architects, engineers and planners in the design of buildings and public space
  • Italian fascist architecture
    Italian Fascist architecture e.g the former "Casa del Fascio (see link) and the "Casa degli Italiani" still has the "fasces" on the pillars at its entrance

    See artdecobuildings.blogspot.co.uk

  • Neoclassical architecture
    President's Palace: "Governor Ferdinando Martini wanted a structure with colonnades at the entrance in neoclassical style" (wiki)
  • Modern Urban Planning
    "The creation of a complete urban landscape arising from the early implementation and continuous adaptation and development of modern urban planning theory in an African context at a vital stage in human history – between two world wars – is one of Asmara’s unique qualities" - see "brief description of nominated site"

    See www.tandfonline.com

  • Garden City Movement
    "The plan is also an early example of the implementation of urban zoning principles, championed by the contemporaneous Garden City Movement."

    See www.tandfonline.com

Damaged
World Heritage Process
Religion and Belief
Human Activity
Constructions
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
WHS Names
News

No news.

Community Reviews

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First published: 03/04/20.

Ammon Watkins

Asmara

Asmara (Inscribed)

Asmara by Ammon Watkins

I must admit that I didn't go all the way to Eritrea in Feb 2020 to specifically visit this WHS though it would be impossible to miss once you are there since it encompasses pretty much the whole capital. It was my third trip to the region but first successful attempt at getting into the country so it had been a bit of a nagging personal goal for a while. I'm not familiar with the other major Art Deco hot spots so wasn't sure how appealing it would be to me personally but I quickly came to love the overall atmosphere of Asmara and very much enjoyed my time there. I'm not sure if it says more about me or the country but it is easily my favourite African capital.

The good news is the Eritrean system seems to have lost the harshest edge of its paranoia and my experience was overwhelmingly hassle free. The bad news is the number of dilapidated buildings has only continued to increase over the years. I used a guide book that was 12+ years old and found that while the buildings hadn't moved, several that were listed as visitable or in use had been shuttered completely and left to decay. The Fiat building is fenced off and empty now for example. I found this added to the trapped in time character of a country that has been isolated and undeveloped for so long. It was more like walking around a huge antique shop, …

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First published: 20/06/08.

Solivagant

Asmara

Asmara (Inscribed)

Asmara by Solivagant

Well - could you guess that this is Africa (photo)? Just 1 of the amazing Art Deco buildings in Asmara. There is a fine book which catalogues all (most?) of the relevant buildings in the city - but I only found it at the airport when leaving. And there are a lot of these buildings. There are at least 4 "time warp" cinemas ranging in condition from "lovingly restored" to "in grave danger of falling down" The best are still in use and still have the original ticket offices etc and very pleasant cafes. This iconic Fiat garage/petrol station is unfortunately in sad need of repair. There are also a number of governmental buildings, public squares etc and innumerable private dwellings - anyone interested in architecture will be able to spend a good number of hours exploring the Art Deco heritage of this pleasant capital with its pleasant climate. Mussolini foresaw great things for this colony and spared no expense in demonstrating the greatness to which his empire aspired! Look out for the "Fasces" still decorating the pillars outside the Italian club

Unfortunately when we visited in Nov 2006 the Eritrean government was paranoid about foreigners (and from what I hear things haven't changed!) and I was marched off with an, I fear, loaded rifle sticking in my back by an angry conscript for photographing 1 of the cinemas - luckily I was "rescued" by an educated local who sorted things out. But Eritrea is like that - a mixture …

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