A modernist Italian city in the Eritrean highlands
Asmara sits high on the Eritrean plateau, and much of its centre was built by Italian colonial authorities in the 1930s in modernist, Art Deco and Futurist styles. The Fiat Tagliero service station, shaped like an aircraft with cantilevered wings, is the most famous building, alongside the Cinema Impero and the Catholic Cathedral on Harnet Avenue. The whole centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Espresso bars, pastry shops and an evening passeggiata give the city a distinctly Italian feel.