The red facade
Round windows.
sailko — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mheidegger — CC BY 4.0 · sailko — CC BY-SA 3.0 · sailko — CC BY-SA 3.0 · sailko — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Cinema Impero is an Art Deco cinema in Asmara, Eritrea's capital, built in 1937 during the Italian colonial period. It was the largest cinema built in Asmara at that time and still shows films today. Experts consider it one of the world's finest examples of Art Deco. The building remains structurally sound after more than seventy years and escaped the conflicts that have touched the Horn of Africa over the past century. With the Fiat Tagliero and other Italian-era buildings, it helped Asmara become a World Heritage Site in 2017, the first modernist city on the list. You see a broad dark red facade with three columns of small round windows at its centre, and the words «CINEMA» and «IMPERO» running down either side in tall white letters. Below are a wide entrance and shops. Inside is a lobby with a marble stair and an old projector on display. It stands on Harnet Avenue in central Asmara, about 300 metres from the Great Mosque. Italian-style cafés line the same avenue. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Eritrea, and all travel near its land borders, so read the current advice before you plan.
Round windows.
Running down.
A marble stair.
Harnet Avenue, Asmara, Eritrea
Church of Our Lady of the RosaryThe Church of Our Lady of the Rosary is a large Catholic church in central Asmar3 minutes walk
Great Mosque of AsmaraThe Mosque of the Rightly Guided Caliphs is the great mosque of central Asmara, 4 minutes walk
Fiat Tagliero BuildingThe Fiat Tagliero Building is a Futurist-style filling station in Asmara, Eritre22 minutes walkYes, it is still a working cinema.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Eritrea.