Asmara is the capital of which country. Asmara, Eritrea (Travel Notes)

Travel notes, day 12

The media write terrible things about Eritrea, that there has been a bloody regime in power here for more than 20 years, that there is no media freedom in the country, and that dissenters are tortured in prisons. Eritrea is even called the African North Korea. Honestly, I expected to see here an ordinary African police state, with intimidated people, soldiers and security officers in civilian clothes who control your every move. The reality was very surprising. In appearance, this is an absolutely normal country, with kind and hospitable people. Eritrea would look quite natural on the outskirts of Europe, and not in Africa.

It’s difficult to meet a policeman on the street; during the whole day in the capital, Asmara, I only saw a couple of local traffic cops. In the evenings the streets are filled with people walking, everyone is well dressed and European. Girls wear dresses and short skirts, young people wear patent leather shoes and bright shirts, just like at Sochi discos. Couples occupy all the cafes, tables are on the streets, people drink coffee, wine and eat ice cream. Asmara is generally considered one of the safest capitals on the African continent. They treat foreigners extremely kindly here. Nobody forbids filming. There were a few times when I pointed the camera at someone who didn't like it. If a person tried to be indignant, people around him immediately pounced on him: “Are you sorry? Why is the old horseradish wound up? Don’t you see, the tourist wants to pick you up! You’re not sugary, you won’t melt!” etc. On the contrary, they encouraged me, helped me get permission to shoot, and in general, in any place you feel like a dear guest.

Of course, when you start digging deeper. you understand why young people are fleeing from here, and the UN has imposed sanctions and limited trade with Eritrea.

Before World War II, Eritrea was an Italian colony. After the war it was part of Ethiopia, but the Eritreans did not like it. The war of independence of Eritrea lasted more than 30 years and only in 1993 it was possible to separate from Ethiopia. At the same time, local dictator Isaias Afwerki came to power. He canceled presidential elections, introduced censorship and created his own little African tyranny. Surprisingly, people here treat him quite normally. About the same as in our outback to United Russia: “If not him, then who? But now there is stability! They don’t look for good from good...”, etc. Eritreans are generally very patriotic people and do not like anyone teaching them how to live from outside. "Do you know why the UN only imposes economic sanctions against us? Why don't they attack us?" - my driver told me, “Because it is impossible to defeat us in the war! If a war starts tomorrow, everyone will get up as one and go to the front. Both young people and old people. We will go with stones, with sticks, but we will not give our land to anyone We didn’t fight for independence for 30 years so that Europe and the USA would now teach us how to live!” Such sentiments are very common in the country.

The UN has claims against Eritrea not only because of the bloody regime. The main problem is supporting Somali Islamists. Eritrea was accused of supplying rebels with weapons and money, providing refuge and political space for Islamic fundamentalists and militants, and Eritrean “volunteers” participating in the civil war in Somalia. Despite the fact that President Afwerki denied everything and said that these were all rumors and machinations of CIA agents, the UN imposed sanctions, blocked the accounts of the country's government and banned them from visiting UN member countries.

The main problem the Eritreans have is with the army. They are drafted into the army, like ours, after school. Only conscription is mandatory for everyone for 6 months. Both men and women are called. After 6 months in the army, the conscript takes exams at a higher educational institution or technical school to master a profession. Then there are two options: either you enroll and go to study, or you don’t enroll and remain in the army to serve for 2 years. After the service, you again try to pass exams and get admitted somewhere. If it doesn’t work out, you stay to serve.. Some people sit in the army for 10-15 years, and cannot enter a university and get a profession. Theoretically, a person can serve in the army until he is 60 years old, because the conscription age here ends with the onset of pension. If you entered a university and graduated from it, you are obliged to work for the state for some time as assigned, otherwise you will be sent to the hated army.

Despite having a higher education and assigned work, every Eritrean is required to leave for military training once a year for a month. Every resident of the country is of conscription age (up to 60 years). It’s easier for girls; after 31 years, if you have a child and a husband, you don’t have to go to training camps. All this leapfrog with the army is very disliked by young people who are fleeing the country in any possible way. They flee to Sudan, they flee to Uganda, etc. People are ready to live in terrible conditions rather than join the Eritrean army. Nobody says why it’s so bad, I just want freedom. The army also has restrictions on movement. The young man cannot obtain a foreign passport to leave the country. Until you have served, they will not give you a passport. As a result, a very limited number of people have the right to leave the country. These are either elderly people, or people who received a procession and repaid their debt to the state through many years of work on distribution.

01. Capital of the country, Asmara. There used to be a village here, but then the Italians came and in 1897 decided to build a capital. The very village where it all began remains as a monument to apartheid. She is in the foreground of the photo. After the construction of the capital by the Italians, all local residents were left to live in this village. The colonialists built huge cinemas, villas, hotels and restaurants for themselves. Local residents were prohibited from appearing on the central streets. Entrance to cafes and restaurants by the Italians was closed for them; they could not visit hospitals, cinemas and shops for whites.

02. Streets of Asmara.

03. The city is very pleasant. Everything is flowering. The city is very green.

04. The city is located at an altitude of 2300 meters above sea level, thanks to which the climate here is very comfortable. All year round, the average temperature hovers around 20 degrees. Sometimes there are frosts and even snow. But there is no terrible African heat.

05. Look how beautiful it is.

06. Previously, there were villas of Italian rich people here. Now there are embassies and villas of the Eritrean rich.

07. Central street.

08. There are restrictions on currency turnover in the country. It is simply impossible for a local resident to buy dollars. If you suddenly travel abroad, you may be given some dollars (the calculation is 100 dollars per day). The official exchange rate is 15 local nakfa per dollar. On the black market you will get 30 or 40 nakfa for a dollar! Authorities are cracking down on the black market. Disguised police officers disguised as money changers often work on the streets and in taxis to catch tourists. Be careful. But if you manage to change your dollars on the black market. you immediately become rich. All prices are immediately 2-3 times cheaper for you! A glass of freshly squeezed juice is a dollar, a hearty lunch in a good restaurant is 5 dollars.

09. The city is very well preserved. Everything here is like 100 years ago. There is a similar atmosphere in Cuban Havana or in the resorts of Abkhazia.

10. Mail. Nothing has changed at all.

11. Look how gorgeous the sidewalks and curbs are! Even 100 years ago, the Italians knew how to make curbs with a locking joint so that they would not fall apart. In Russia they don’t do that. Maybe in 100 years they will learn?

12. The streets are full of cafes. Asmara is called the “New Rome” or “Italian city in Africa” because of the special Italian spirit that reigns on the streets.

13. Old Italian pharmacy. All the furniture has been preserved from those times.

14. The old cash register is still working! Just a city-museum.

15. Old Italian restaurant. The furniture and decor have been preserved from those times.

16. They say this cafe brews the best espresso. I checked, it really is the best.

17. There are always a lot of people. A cup of coffee costs 5 rubles. I can say that you won’t find such good espresso in Moscow. I won’t say anything about the 5 rubles.

18. Visitors.

19. In the next room they are playing a game unknown to me.

20. Old opera building.

21. There are performances here now. There is no electricity.

22. Old cinema. Sessions several times a week. There is no electricity either, so for the occasion of the movie they turn on the generator. Movies are shown through a regular laptop and a household projector. In general, every important establishment has its own generator.

23. In Asmara, mainly adherents of the Eritrean Orthodox Church live (60%, 15% are Catholics, 25% are Muslims). Although half of the country is Muslim. According to the 1997 constitution, religious freedom should be guaranteed in the country, but in 2002 the government demanded the registration of religious groups, and under the pretext of registration outlawed all religions except the four main ones - Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Eritrea and the Roman -Catholic Church. Numerous other groups, including Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Orthodox Reformists, were persecuted, with activists sent to prison and tortured. Catholic cathedral:

24. Mosque. It was also built by Italians

25. Enda Mariam Orthodox Church.

26. As far as I understood the explanations of the locals, this is the local patriarch.

27.

28.

29. Cathedral interior.

30.

31. Gasoline is not sold in Eritrea. You can’t just buy it at gas stations. State gas stations are by card only. For example, taxi drivers are given 20 liters per day. For company cars, you need to agree on a route and receive a quota for this route. For example, I'm going to go to the north of the country. My driver agreed on this route and was given gasoline. Issued based on the average consumption of a given brand of gasoline per 100 km. The driver immediately warned that he would not turn on the air conditioner, since with an air conditioner the consumption would be higher and we would not get there. Everyone travels very economically. If possible, turn off the engine immediately. Such savings are justified; at the end of the trip, my driver delivers a small can of gasoline to his sister. You can freely buy gasoline on the black market, where the price reaches 5-6 dollars per liter 95. Many taxi drivers bargain for gasoline quotas. To do this, they receive cards, shop them, and then roll up the odometer to show trips. Then they push gasoline onto the black market. It is impossible to obtain a taxi driver's license. It is either inherited or purchased from another taxi driver. If a taxi driver dies in the family and he has no heirs, there is immediately a line outside the door of those wishing to buy the deceased’s license from the widow.

32. Small Fiats. In general, there are very few cars on the streets. The first thing that catches your eye is that all the expensive ones are empty. You can calmly walk along the roadway without fear that someone will run you over.

33. But everyone is breaking into the buses.

34. There is a terrible crush on every bus.

35. Bus travel costs 2 rubles.

36. There are also problems with food. They mainly sell what is produced in the country. There are practically no foreign products. But there is Coca-Cola everywhere. Here it is an elite drink. A bottle of cola costs $2, which is insanely expensive by local standards. A can of foreign Heiniken beer costs $7, versus $1 for local beer.

37. Fashion boutique.

38. There is no private press in the country. There are several state newspapers and that’s it.

39.

40. Eritrea is our everything and the homeland of Pushkin’s great-grandfather.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore this amazing country.

Previous reports:

Eritrea is an amazing country! This is probably the best African country I've been to. There is nothing wrong with Eritrea. There is no money, no Internet, no media, no phones, no cars, no food in stores, nothing that brings a lot of problems into our lives. I have never met such kind and open people anywhere, I have never seen such cozy and beautiful streets, I have never felt so good anywhere.

The media write terrible things about Eritrea, that there has been a bloody regime in power here for more than 20 years, that there is no media freedom in the country, and that dissenters are tortured in prisons. Eritrea is even called the African North Korea. Honestly, I expected to see here an ordinary African police state, with intimidated people, soldiers and security officers in civilian clothes who control your every move. The reality was very surprising. In appearance, this is an absolutely normal country, with kind and hospitable people. Eritrea would look quite natural on the outskirts of Europe, and not in Africa.

It’s difficult to meet a policeman on the street; during the whole day in the capital, Asmara, I only saw a couple of local traffic cops. In the evenings the streets are filled with people walking, everyone is well dressed and European. Girls wear dresses and short skirts, young people wear patent leather shoes and bright shirts, just like at Sochi discos. Couples occupy all the cafes, tables are on the streets, people drink coffee, wine and eat ice cream. Asmara is generally considered one of the safest capitals on the African continent. They treat foreigners extremely kindly here. Nobody forbids filming. There were a few times when I pointed the camera at someone who didn't like it. If a person tried to be indignant, people around him immediately pounced on him: “Are you sorry? Why is the old horseradish wound up? Don’t you see, the tourist wants to pick you up! You’re not sugary, you won’t melt!” etc. On the contrary, they encouraged me, helped me get permission to shoot, and in general, in any place you feel like a dear guest.

Of course, when you start digging deeper. you understand why young people are fleeing from here, and the UN has imposed sanctions and limited trade with Eritrea.

Before World War II, Eritrea was an Italian colony. After the war it was part of Ethiopia, but the Eritreans did not like it. The war of independence of Eritrea lasted more than 30 years and only in 1993 it was possible to separate from Ethiopia. At the same time, local dictator Isaias Afwerki came to power. He canceled presidential elections, introduced censorship and created his own little African tyranny. Surprisingly, people here treat him quite normally. About the same as in our outback to United Russia: “If not him, then who? But now there is stability! They don’t look for good from good...”, etc. Eritreans are generally very patriotic people and do not like anyone teaching them how to live from outside. "Do you know why the UN only imposes economic sanctions against us? Why don't they attack us?" - my driver told me, “Because it is impossible to defeat us in the war! If a war starts tomorrow, everyone will get up as one and go to the front. Both young people and old people. We will go with stones, with sticks, but we will not give our land to anyone We didn’t fight for independence for 30 years so that Europe and the USA would now teach us how to live!” Such sentiments are very common in the country.

The UN has claims against Eritrea not only because of the bloody regime. The main problem is supporting Somali Islamists. Eritrea was accused of supplying rebels with weapons and money, providing refuge and political space for Islamic fundamentalists and militants, and Eritrean “volunteers” participating in the civil war in Somalia. Despite the fact that President Afwerki denied everything and said that these were all rumors and machinations of CIA agents, the UN imposed sanctions, blocked the accounts of the country's government and banned them from visiting UN member countries.

The main problem the Eritreans have is with the army. They are drafted into the army, like ours, after school. Only conscription is mandatory for everyone for 6 months. Both men and women are called. After 6 months in the army, the conscript takes exams at a higher educational institution or technical school to master a profession. Then there are two options: either you enroll and go to study, or you don’t enroll and remain in the army to serve for 2 years. After the service, you again try to pass exams and get admitted somewhere. If it doesn’t work out, you stay to serve.. Some people sit in the army for 10-15 years, and cannot enter a university and get a profession. Theoretically, a person can serve in the army until he is 60 years old, because the conscription age here ends with the onset of pension. If you entered a university and graduated from it, you are obliged to work for the state for some time as assigned, otherwise you will be sent to the hated army.

Despite having a higher education and assigned work, every Eritrean is required to leave for military training once a year for a month. Every resident of the country is of conscription age (up to 60 years). It’s easier for girls; after 31 years, if you have a child and a husband, you don’t have to go to training camps. All this leapfrog with the army is very disliked by young people who are fleeing the country in any possible way. They flee to Sudan, they flee to Uganda, etc. People are ready to live in terrible conditions rather than join the Eritrean army. Nobody says why it’s so bad, I just want freedom. The army also has restrictions on movement. The young man cannot obtain a foreign passport to leave the country. Until you have served, they will not give you a passport. As a result, a very limited number of people have the right to leave the country. These are either elderly people, or people who received a procession and repaid their debt to the state through many years of work on distribution.

01. Capital of the country, Asmara. There used to be a village here, but then the Italians came and in 1897 decided to build a capital. The very village where it all began remains as a monument to apartheid. She is in the foreground of the photo. After the construction of the capital by the Italians, all local residents were left to live in this village. The colonialists built huge cinemas, villas, hotels and restaurants for themselves. Local residents were prohibited from appearing on the central streets. Entrance to cafes and restaurants by the Italians was closed for them; they could not visit hospitals, cinemas and shops for whites.

02. Streets of Asmara.

03. The city is very pleasant. Everything is flowering. The city is very green.

04. The city is located at an altitude of 2300 meters above sea level, thanks to which the climate here is very comfortable. All year round, the average temperature hovers around 20 degrees. Sometimes there are frosts and even snow. But there is no terrible African heat.

05. Look how beautiful it is.

06. Previously, there were villas of Italian rich people here. Now there are embassies and villas of the Eritrean rich.

07. Central street.

08. There are restrictions on currency turnover in the country. It is simply impossible for a local resident to buy dollars. If you suddenly travel abroad, you may be given some dollars (the calculation is 100 dollars per day). The official exchange rate is 15 local nakfa per dollar. On the black market you will get 30 or 40 nakfa for a dollar! Authorities are cracking down on the black market. Disguised police officers disguised as money changers often work on the streets and in taxis to catch tourists. Be careful. But if you manage to change your dollars on the black market. you immediately become rich. All prices are immediately 2-3 times cheaper for you! A glass of freshly squeezed juice is a dollar, a hearty lunch in a good restaurant is 5 dollars.

09. The city is very well preserved. Everything here is like 100 years ago. There is a similar atmosphere in Cuban Havana or in the resorts of Abkhazia.

10. Mail. Nothing has changed at all.

11. Look how gorgeous the sidewalks and curbs are! Even 100 years ago, the Italians knew how to make curbs with a locking joint so that they would not fall apart. In Russia they don’t do that. Maybe in 100 years they will learn?

12. The streets are full of cafes. Asmara is called the “New Rome” or “Italian city in Africa” because of the special Italian spirit that reigns on the streets.

13. Old Italian pharmacy. All the furniture has been preserved from those times.

14. The old cash register is still working! Just a city-museum.

15. Old Italian restaurant. The furniture and decor have been preserved from those times.

16. They say this cafe brews the best espresso. I checked, it really is the best.

17. There are always a lot of people. A cup of coffee costs 5 rubles. I can say that you won’t find such good espresso in Moscow. I won’t say anything about the 5 rubles.

18. Visitors.

19. In the next room they are playing a game unknown to me.

20. Old opera building.

21. There are performances here now. There is no electricity.

22. Old cinema. Sessions several times a week. There is no electricity either, so for the occasion of the movie they turn on the generator. Movies are shown through a regular laptop and a household projector. In general, every important establishment has its own generator.

23. In Asmara, mainly adherents of the Eritrean Orthodox Church live (60%, 15% are Catholics, 25% are Muslims). Although half of the country is Muslim. According to the 1997 constitution, religious freedom should be guaranteed in the country, but in 2002 the government demanded the registration of religious groups, and under the pretext of registration outlawed all religions except the four main ones - Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Eritrea and the Roman -Catholic Church. Numerous other groups, including Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Orthodox Reformists, were persecuted, with activists sent to prison and tortured. Catholic cathedral:

24. Mosque. It was also built by Italians

25. Enda Mariam Orthodox Church.

26. As far as I understood the explanations of the locals, this is the local patriarch.

29. Cathedral interior.

31. Gasoline is not sold in Eritrea. You can’t just buy it at gas stations. State gas stations are by card only. For example, taxi drivers are given 20 liters per day. For company cars, you need to agree on a route and receive a quota for this route. For example, I'm going to go to the north of the country. My driver agreed on this route and was given gasoline. Issued based on the average consumption of a given brand of gasoline per 100 km. The driver immediately warned that he would not turn on the air conditioner, since with an air conditioner the consumption would be higher and we would not get there. Everyone travels very economically. If possible, turn off the engine immediately. Such savings are justified; at the end of the trip, my driver delivers a small can of gasoline to his sister. You can freely buy gasoline on the black market, where the price reaches 5-6 dollars per liter 95. Many taxi drivers bargain for gasoline quotas. To do this, they receive cards, shop them, and then roll up the odometer to show trips. Then they push gasoline onto the black market. It is impossible to obtain a taxi driver's license. It is either inherited or purchased from another taxi driver. If a taxi driver dies in the family and he has no heirs, there is immediately a line outside the door of those wishing to buy the deceased’s license from the widow.

32. Small Fiats. In general, there are very few cars on the streets. The first thing that catches your eye is that all the expensive ones are empty. You can calmly walk along the roadway without fear that someone will run you over.

33. But everyone is breaking into the buses.

34. There is a terrible crush on every bus.

35. Bus travel costs 2 rubles.

36. There are also problems with food. They mainly sell what is produced in the country. There are practically no foreign products. But there is Coca-Cola everywhere. Here it is an elite drink. A bottle of cola costs $2, which is insanely expensive by local standards. A can of foreign Heiniken beer costs $7, versus $1 for local beer.

37. Fashion boutique.

38. There is no private press in the country. There are several state newspapers and that’s it.

40. Eritrea is our everything and the homeland of Pushkin’s great-grandfather.

It’s difficult to meet a policeman on the street; during the whole day in the capital, Asmara, I only saw a couple of local traffic cops. In the evenings the streets are filled with people walking, everyone is well dressed and European. Girls wear dresses and short skirts, young people wear patent leather shoes and bright shirts, just like at Sochi discos. Couples occupy all the cafes, tables are on the streets, people drink coffee, wine and eat ice cream. Asmara is generally considered one of the safest capitals on the African continent. They treat foreigners extremely kindly here. Nobody forbids filming. There were a few times when I pointed the camera at someone who didn't like it. If a person tried to be indignant, people around him immediately pounced on him: “Are you sorry? Why is the old horseradish wound up? Don’t you see, the tourist wants to pick you up! You’re not sugary, you won’t melt!” etc. On the contrary, they encouraged me, helped me get permission to shoot, and in general, in any place you feel like a dear guest.

Of course, when you start digging deeper. you understand why young people are fleeing from here, and the UN has imposed sanctions and limited trade with Eritrea.

Before World War II, Eritrea was an Italian colony. After the war it was part of Ethiopia, but the Eritreans did not like it. The war of independence of Eritrea lasted more than 30 years and only in 1993 it was possible to separate from Ethiopia. At the same time, local dictator Isaias Afwerki came to power. He canceled presidential elections, introduced censorship and created his own little African tyranny. Surprisingly, people here treat him quite normally. About the same as in our outback to United Russia: “If not him, then who? But now there is stability! They don’t look for good from good...”, etc. Eritreans are generally very patriotic people and do not like anyone teaching them how to live from outside. "Do you know why the UN only imposes economic sanctions against us? Why don't they attack us?" - my driver told me, “Because it is impossible to defeat us in the war! If a war starts tomorrow, everyone will get up as one and go to the front. Both young people and old people. We will go with stones, with sticks, but we will not give our land to anyone We didn’t fight for independence for 30 years so that Europe and the USA would now teach us how to live!” Such sentiments are very common in the country.

The UN has claims against Eritrea not only because of the bloody regime. The main problem is supporting Somali Islamists. Eritrea was accused of supplying rebels with weapons and money, providing refuge and political space for Islamic fundamentalists and militants, and Eritrean “volunteers” participating in the civil war in Somalia. Despite the fact that President Afwerki denied everything and said that these were all rumors and machinations of CIA agents, the UN imposed sanctions, blocked the accounts of the country's government and banned them from visiting UN member countries.

The main problem the Eritreans have is with the army. They are drafted into the army, like ours, after school. Only conscription is mandatory for everyone for 6 months. Both men and women are called. After 6 months in the army, the conscript takes exams at a higher educational institution or technical school to master a profession. Then there are two options: either you enroll and go to study, or you don’t enroll and remain in the army to serve for 2 years. After the service, you again try to pass exams and get admitted somewhere. If it doesn’t work out, you stay to serve.. Some people sit in the army for 10-15 years, and cannot enter a university and get a profession. Theoretically, a person can serve in the army until he is 60 years old, because the conscription age here ends with the onset of pension. If you entered a university and graduated from it, you are obliged to work for the state for some time as assigned, otherwise you will be sent to the hated army.

Despite having a higher education and assigned work, every Eritrean is required to leave for military training once a year for a month. Every resident of the country is of conscription age (up to 60 years). It’s easier for girls; after 31 years, if you have a child and a husband, you don’t have to go to training camps. All this leapfrog with the army is very disliked by young people who are fleeing the country in any possible way. They flee to Sudan, they flee to Uganda, etc. People are ready to live in terrible conditions rather than join the Eritrean army. Nobody says why it’s so bad, I just want freedom. The army also has restrictions on movement. The young man cannot obtain a foreign passport to leave the country. Until you have served, they will not give you a passport. As a result, a very limited number of people have the right to leave the country. These are either elderly people, or people who received a procession and repaid their debt to the state through many years of work on distribution.

01. Capital of the country, Asmara. There used to be a village here, but then the Italians came and in 1897 decided to build a capital. The very village where it all began remains as a monument to apartheid. She is in the foreground of the photo. After the construction of the capital by the Italians, all local residents were left to live in this village. The colonialists built huge cinemas, villas, hotels and restaurants for themselves. Local residents were prohibited from appearing on the central streets. Entrance to cafes and restaurants by the Italians was closed for them; they could not visit hospitals, cinemas and shops for whites.

02. Streets of Asmara.

03. The city is very pleasant. Everything is flowering. The city is very green.

04. The city is located at an altitude of 2300 meters above sea level, thanks to which the climate here is very comfortable. All year round, the average temperature hovers around 20 degrees. Sometimes there are frosts and even snow. But there is no terrible African heat.

05. Look how beautiful it is.

06. Previously, there were villas of Italian rich people here. Now there are embassies and villas of the Eritrean rich.

07. Central street.

08. There are restrictions on currency turnover in the country. It is simply impossible for a local resident to buy dollars. If you suddenly travel abroad, you may be given some dollars (the calculation is 100 dollars per day). The official exchange rate is 15 local nakfa per dollar. On the black market you will get 30 or 40 nakfa for a dollar! Authorities are cracking down on the black market. Disguised police officers disguised as money changers often work on the streets and in taxis to catch tourists. Be careful. But if you manage to change your dollars on the black market. you immediately become rich. All prices are immediately 2-3 times cheaper for you! A glass of freshly squeezed juice is a dollar, a hearty lunch in a good restaurant is 5 dollars.

09. The city is very well preserved. Everything here is like 100 years ago. There is a similar atmosphere in Cuban Havana or in the resorts of Abkhazia.

10. Mail. Nothing has changed at all.

11. Look how gorgeous the sidewalks and curbs are! Even 100 years ago, the Italians knew how to make curbs with a locking joint so that they would not fall apart. In Russia they don’t do that. Maybe in 100 years they will learn?

12. The streets are full of cafes. Asmara is called the “New Rome” or “Italian city in Africa” because of the special Italian spirit that reigns on the streets.

13. Old Italian pharmacy. All the furniture has been preserved from those times.

14. The old cash register is still working! Just a city-museum.

15. Old Italian restaurant. The furniture and decor have been preserved from those times.

16. They say this cafe brews the best espresso. I checked, it really is the best.

17. There are always a lot of people. A cup of coffee costs 5 rubles. I can say that you won’t find such good espresso in Moscow. I won’t say anything about the 5 rubles.

18. Visitors.

19. In the next room they are playing a game unknown to me.

20. Old opera building.

21. There are performances here now. There is no electricity.

22. Old cinema. Sessions several times a week. There is no electricity either, so for the occasion of the movie they turn on the generator. Movies are shown through a regular laptop and a household projector. In general, every important establishment has its own generator.

23. In Asmara, mainly adherents of the Eritrean Orthodox Church live (60%, 15% are Catholics, 25% are Muslims). Although half of the country is Muslim. According to the 1997 constitution, religious freedom should be guaranteed in the country, but in 2002 the government demanded the registration of religious groups, and under the pretext of registration outlawed all religions except the four main ones - Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Eritrea and the Roman -Catholic Church. Numerous other groups, including Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Orthodox Reformists, were persecuted, with activists sent to prison and tortured. Catholic cathedral:

24. Mosque. It was also built by Italians

25. Enda Mariam Orthodox Church.

26. As far as I understood the explanations of the locals, this is the local patriarch.

27.

28.

29. Cathedral interior.

30.

31. Gasoline is not sold in Eritrea. You can’t just buy it at gas stations. State gas stations are by card only. For example, taxi drivers are given 20 liters per day. For company cars, you need to agree on a route and receive a quota for this route. For example, I'm going to go to the north of the country. My driver agreed on this route and was given gasoline. Issued based on the average consumption of a given brand of gasoline per 100 km. The driver immediately warned that he would not turn on the air conditioner, since with an air conditioner the consumption would be higher and we would not get there. Everyone travels very economically. If possible, turn off the engine immediately. Such savings are justified; at the end of the trip, my driver delivers a small can of gasoline to his sister. You can freely buy gasoline on the black market, where the price reaches 5-6 dollars per liter 95. Many taxi drivers bargain for gasoline quotas. To do this, they receive cards, shop them, and then roll up the odometer to show trips. Then they push gasoline onto the black market. It is impossible to obtain a taxi driver's license. It is either inherited or purchased from another taxi driver. If a taxi driver dies in the family and he has no heirs, there is immediately a line outside the door of those wishing to buy the deceased’s license from the widow.

32. Small Fiats. In general, there are very few cars on the streets. The first thing that catches your eye is that all the expensive ones are empty. You can calmly walk along the roadway without fear that someone will run you over.

33. But everyone is breaking into the buses.

34. There is a terrible crush on every bus.

35. Bus travel costs 2 rubles.

36. There are also problems with food. They mainly sell what is produced in the country. There are practically no foreign products. But there is Coca-Cola everywhere. Here it is an elite drink. A bottle of cola costs $2, which is insanely expensive by local standards. A can of foreign Heiniken beer costs $7, versus $1 for local beer.

37. Fashion boutique.

38. There is no private press in the country. There are several state newspapers and that’s it.

39.

40. Eritrea is our everything and the homeland of Pushkin’s great-grandfather.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore this amazing country.

The capital of Eritrea - and its largest and most populous city - Asmara is located in the central part of the country, on the Eritrean Highlands as part of the Ethiopian Highlands, at an altitude of about 2.5 km. It's not far from Asmara.

City `s history

People of the Tigrinya and Tigre tribes inhabited these places in the 8th-4th centuries. BC e. Gradually, four warring clans formed - Gurtom, Shelele, Sereser and Asmae, waging endless wars for land and hunting grounds. Reconciliation was achieved only when it became clear that further wars would lead to complete mutual destruction. However, the main source of information about ancient Asmara are legends according to which the city was founded in the 12th century.
The first reliable data appears in the 17th-18th centuries. from Catholic missionaries who built a temple in Asmara.
At that time, Asmara was part of the Ethiopian kingdom of Medri Bahri (“Land by the Sea”), which occupied almost the entire Horn of Africa. These lands were subjugated by the Ottoman Turks, but in the middle of the 19th century. they were expelled from here by the Egyptians with the support of the British.
From the second half of the 19th century. The colonization of these lands by Italy began, whose troops landed in the ports of Assab and Massawa. In 1890, the colony of Eritrea was proclaimed, and difficult Italian-Ethiopian wars began. In 1900, Asmara became the capital of the colony, and large construction began there. Since the beginning of the 20th century. and until the 1940s, when Italy lost all its colonies after World War II, many buildings appeared in the city, which to this day remain a unique example of the so-called “Italian colonial architecture”, and Asmara itself began to be called Little Rome (Piccola Roma) .
From 1941 to 1952 the city was under the control of the British military administration. In 1952, Eritrea - and with it Asmara - became part of Ethiopia.
As a result of a long and bloody war between independence supporters and Ethiopian government forces, Eritrea's independence was declared in 1993, and Asmara became its capital.
Asmara is located some distance from the Red Sea, which in ancient times was considered the best means of protection against coastal pirates and invaders. Nowadays, the railway and highway connecting the city with the port are the main trade routes of Asmara.
Certain areas of Asmara resemble an open-air architectural museum. One can only wonder how wars did not wipe out these fragile Art Deco creations from the face of the earth.
Residents of the city call themselves in the Italian manner - Asmarino: this is one of the manifestations of the legacy of Italian colonization. This is how the Tigrinya, who are the overwhelming majority here, and another large people, the Tigre, call themselves. The languages ​​of interethnic communication remained English and Italian, as well as Arabic, preserved from the colonialists. Most of the townspeople are supporters of the Eritrean Orthodox Church (Orthodoxy came to these parts in biblical times), many are Catholics (the result of the activities of Italian missionaries), and the number of Muslims is growing.
The Asmarinos do not live well: since 1993, when Eritrea’s formal independence from Ethiopia was declared, its capital, along with the entire country, has been faced with many problems, the main ones being the complete reluctance of foreign companies to invest money in the economy and the chronic horrific drought in the region. located on the southern border of the Sahel. To these troubles was added desertification: from the end of the 19th century. In this region, forests are disappearing at an unprecedented rate, which entails soil erosion. Both nature and people for whom the forest is primarily firewood are to blame. True, Asmara is lucky: the surrounding lands have still retained fertility, but scientists are not sure for how long.
In the meantime, there is a large wholesale agricultural market in the city, from where products are exported to the Red Sea. Asmara makes good money on transit: this city is a junction of railways and highways, and there is a direct route from it to the Eritrean port of Massawa on the Red Sea. The building materials industry began to develop, and Asmara supplied glass, bricks and cement throughout Northeast Africa. The city is also lucky in that there is a hydroelectric power station nearby that provides Asmara with electricity. Significant income comes from the workers of the nearby gold and copper mines, who spend their money in the city's establishments.

general information

Numbers

Climate and weather

Economy

Attractions

Architectural

Presidential Palace (1897), Opera House (1918, 1936), Impero Cinema (1937), Fiat Tagliero Building (1938), National Bank of Eritrea (1914), Main Street Hamet Avenue (Combistatato).

Cult

St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral (1922), Al-Khulafa Al-Rashidun Mosque (1938), Enda Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Church (1960s).

Cultural

National Museum of Eritrea (1992).

■ Miscellaneous: tank cemetery, zoo, Eritrean railway.

Curious facts