Cinema Impero

Cinema Impero stands on Harnet Avenue, Asmara's main street, a 1937 building with a facade of three tall vertical bands of glass and the original lettering still in place, and it is named directly in the UNESCO inscription as one of the city's cinemas. The auditorium seats around eighteen hundred with its original fittings largely intact, which for a cinema of that age is unusual anywhere. Asmara has several surviving cinemas of the same period, and the inscription names Roma, Odeon, Capitol and Hamasien alongside this one.

History

The colonial authorities of Italian Eritrea built the cinema in 1937 as the largest in Asmara in the last period of the colony, naming it after Mussolini's conquest of Ethiopia and his proclamation of an Italian Empire. It still works as a cinema, is counted by experts among the world's finest Art Deco buildings, and has stayed structurally sound, and with the Fiat Tagliero building and other Italian-period structures it is part of what made Asmara a World Heritage Site in 2017 (Wikipedia, Cinema Impero).

What to look for

• The facade - three vertical glass bands and the original lettering.
• The auditorium - around eighteen hundred seats with original fittings.
• The 1937 date - the height of the city's rationalist building programme.
• The named inscription - one of the cinemas listed by UNESCO.

When to go

Year round. Interior access depends on screenings and on whether the cinema is operating. Evening light on the facade is best.

Practical notes

The cinema has operated intermittently and interior access is not guaranteed. Photography restrictions in Asmara are real and permits are required for many subjects. Maintenance has been limited.

Nearby

Fiat Tagliero is nearby, and Enda Mariam is north.

Key facts