Before Italian colonisation in 1890, according to popular Tigrinya folklore, Asmara — Asméra in Tigrinya — was formed when four neighbouring villages on the Hamassien plateau united, a union remembered as Arbate Asmera (ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ).

The Hamasien plateau overlooking Forte Baldissera. The fort, named after Italian general Antonio Baldissera, who governed Eritrea, was a military post strategically built on the hilltop site of the historic village of Beit Meka’e, forcing the local inhabitants to resettle nearby.

Gallery

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Forte Baldisera (Source: Wikimedia).

Asmara, c. 1935 (Source: National Geographic).

Post Office, c. 1910–1920 (Source: Public Arch.).

Asmara Railway Stn. (Source: Public Archive).