ASMARA, THE LANCETTE OF THE CHURCH OF KIDANE MEHRET

Asmara, the lancets of the church of Kidane Mehret

In Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, behind the Cathedral, near the grain market, there is the Kidane Mehret Church.

An Eastern Christian church that recognizes the authority of the Pope.

The Kidane Mehret Church, built by Italians in the 1960s, stands where once there was another church. A traditional hidmo decorated with the monkey head technique.

In 1969, during the Ethiopian annexation of Eritrea, the Italian company of Olindo Elmi, designed by Mario Mazzetti, built the new church. The past was very frequented by Catholic Eritreans who, during Italian colonialism, could not enter the Cathedral.

It takes almost two years to build Kidane Mehret . Eclectic in style, the church consists of a main stone body, reached by a long staircase. At the end, three entrances. Double doors in dark red wood artistically carved and inserted in arches that almost reach the pediment. Above the central door, in the largest lunette, a mosaic of the Virgin Mary. On the side windows that recall the Gothic style.

Inside the church a dividing wall, placed before the altar, has been frescoed in Italy. It is the work of a Capuchin friar and represents the image of Our Lady of perpetual help, to which Kidane Mehret's church is dedicated.

There are two elements that characterize Kidane Mehret, the large dome, about 10 meters in diameter and the bell tower, more than 30 meters high and visible from every point of the city.

The dome with late Gothic elements, recalling that of Brunelleschi in Florence, makes the church of Asmara unique.

The bell tower instead, with a square plan, is in Romanesque style. With a peculiarity, the sequence of windows is similar to that of the church. The only difference is that the windows of the bell tower increase in number as you go up.

In the last part of the tower there is the clock, but nobody remembers the hands ...

Maybe they've never been there.

Now time has begun to flow for him too. The last restoration, in fact, in addition to refreshing the color, has returned to the bell tower of Kidane Mehret his hands.