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96-699: Their ancestry dates back from the beginning of the Italian colonization of Eritrea at the end of the 19th century, but only during 1930s they settled in large numbers. In the 1939 census of Eritrea there were more than 76,000 Eritrean Italians, most of them living in Asmara (53,000 out of the city's total of 93,000). Many Italian settlers got out of their colony after its conquest by the Allies in November 1941 and they were reduced to only 38,000 by 1946. This also includes

192-537: A monastery . Then they gradually re-evolved through the Middle Ages into elegant upper-class country homes. In the early modern period , any comfortable detached house with a garden near a city or town was likely to be described as a villa; most survivals have now been engulfed by suburbia . In modern parlance, "villa" can refer to various types and sizes of residences, ranging from the suburban semi-detached double villa to, in some countries, especially around

288-517: A Latin itinerary during the reign of Emperor Dawit I (1382–1411). Asmara, a small village in the nineteenth century, started to grow quickly when it was occupied by Italy in 1889. Governor Ferdinando Martini made it the capital city of Italian Eritrea in 1897. In the early 20th century, the Eritrean Railway was built to the coast, passing through the town of Ghinda , under the direction of Carlo Cavanna . In both 1913 and 1915

384-587: A chartered town. Later evolution has made the Hispanic distinction between villas and ciudades a purely honorific one. Madrid is the Villa y Corte , the villa considered to be separate from the formerly mobile royal court , but the much smaller Ciudad Real was declared ciudad by the Spanish crown. In 14th and 15th century Italy, a villa once more connoted a country house, like the first Medici villas ,

480-751: A few of the notable early architects were Wallace Neff , Addison Mizner , Stanford White , and George Washington Smith . A few examples are the Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California , Medici scale Hearst Castle on the Central Coast of California , and Villa Montalvo in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Saratoga, California , Villa Vizcaya in Coconut Grove, Miami , American Craftsman versions are

576-695: A humanized agricultural landscape , at that time the only desirable aspect of nature . Later villas and gardens include the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in Florence, and the Villa di Pratolino in Vaglia . Rome had more than its share of villas with easy reach of the small sixteenth-century city: the progenitor, the first villa suburbana built since Antiquity, was the Belvedere or palazzetto , designed by Antonio del Pollaiuolo and built on

672-580: A late Victorian style. Art Deco influences are found throughout the city. Essences of Cubism can be found on the Africa Pension Building, and on a small collection of buildings. The Fiat Tagliero Building shows almost the height of futurism, just as it was coming into big fashion in Italy. Asmara is known to be an exceptionally modern city, not only because of its architecture, but Asmara also had more traffic lights than Rome did when

768-421: A linking portico, which might be extended at right angles, even to enclose a courtyard . The other kind featured an aisled central hall like a basilica , suggesting the villa owner's magisterial role. The villa buildings were often independent structures linked by their enclosed courtyards. Timber-framed construction, carefully fitted with mortises and tenons and dowelled together, set on stone footings, were

864-436: A long entrance hall. In South Korea, the term "villa" refers to small multi-household house with 4 floors or less . In Cambodia, "villa" is used as a loanword in the local language of Khmer, and is generally used to describe any type of detached townhouse that features yard space. The term does not apply to any particular architectural style or size, the only features that distinguish a Khmer villa from another building are

960-482: A modern sewage system ... [Asmara] gives the impression of being a pleasant enough small city in Calabria , or even Umbria .” Nowadays more than 400 buildings are of Italian origin, and many shops still have Italian names (e.g., Bar Vittoria , Pasticceria moderna , Casa del formaggio , and Ferramenta ). The Kingdom of Italy invested in the industrial development of Asmara (and surrounding areas of Eritrea), but

1056-539: A population of mixed Italian and Eritrean descent; most Italian Eritreans still living in Eritrea are from this mixed group. Although many of the remaining Italians stayed during the decolonization process after World War II and are actually assimilated to the Eritrean society, a few are stateless today, as none of them were given citizenship unless through marriage or, more rarely, by having it conferred upon them by

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1152-636: A succession of Italian governors maintained a notable degree of unity and public order. The Italians also built many major infrastructural projects in Eritrea, including the Asmara-Massawa Cableway and the Eritrean Railway . Benito Mussolini 's rise to power in Italy in 1922 brought profound changes to the colonial government in Eritrea. Mussolini established the Italian Empire in May 1936. The fascists imposed harsh rule that stressed

1248-652: Is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that originally provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa , the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic , villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity , sometimes transferred to the Church for reuse as

1344-743: Is also the see of the archbishop of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church , which became autocephalous in 1993. The archbishop was elevated in 1998 to the rank of Patriarchate of Eritrea, on a par with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . Eritrean Airlines , the Eritrean Telecommunications Corporation , and other companies are headquartered in the city. The country's national television station Eri-TV has many studios located in various areas in

1440-632: Is also used in Pakistan, and in some of the Caribbean islands such as Jamaica , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , Guadeloupe , British Virgin Islands , and others. It is similar for the coastal resort areas of Baja California Sur and mainland Mexico, and for hospitality industry destination resort "luxury bungalows " in various locations worldwide. In Indonesia, the term "villa" is applied to Dutch colonial country houses ( landhuis ). Nowadays,

1536-575: Is characteristic of rainy, wet seasons and dry seasons. Asmara averages about 518 mm (20.4 in) of precipitation annually. Frost , however, is extremely rare in the city. The long dry season of the year extends from September until around April, and a season of occasional showers occurs from April to June. On average, about 60% of Asmara's annual precipitation is experienced during the months of July and August. In contrast, December to February are typically Asmara's driest months, where on average only 9.1 mm (0.36 in) of precipitation falls in

1632-635: Is home to the Eritrean National Museum . The city is often the starting point of the Tour of Eritrea cycling competition. The city is known for its early 20th-century buildings, including the Art Deco Cinema Impero (opened in 1937 and considered by the experts one of the world's finest examples of Art Déco style building ), Cubist Africa Pension, eclectic Eritrean Orthodox Enda Mariam Cathedral and former Opera House ,

1728-614: Is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean Highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia . In 2017, the city was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved modernist architecture . According to local traditions, the city was founded after four separate villages unified to live together peacefully after long periods of conflict. Asmara had long been overshadowed by nearby Debarwa ,

1824-552: Is now the city museum of Helsinki, Finland . During the 19th and 20th century, the term "villa" became widespread for detached mansions in Europe. Special forms are for instance spa villas ( Kurvillen in German) and seaside villas ( Bädervillen in German), that became especially popular at the end of the 19th century. The tradition established back then continued throughout the 20th century and even until today. Another trend

1920-525: Is situated on a rocky highland plateau, which separates the western lowlands from the eastern coastal plains. The lands that surround Asmara are very fertile, especially those to the south towards the Debub Region of Eritrea. The highlands that Asmera is located in fall away to reveal the eastern lowlands, characterized by the searing heat and humidity of the Eritrean salt pans, lapped by the Red Sea. To

2016-618: The Partito Nuova Eritrea Pro Italia (New Eritrea Pro-Italy Party) in September 1947 in Asmara as an Eritrean political party favorable to the Italian presence in Eritrea. It obtained more than 200,000 applications for membership in a single month, the majority of whom were former Italian soldiers and Eritrean Ascari . The organization was even backed by the government of Italy. The main objective of this party

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2112-506: The insulae , blocks of apartment buildings for the rest of the population. In Satyricon (1st century CE), Petronius described the wide range of Roman dwellings. Another type of villae is the "villa maritima", a seaside villa, located on the coast. A concentration of Imperial villas existed on the Gulf of Naples , on the Isle of Capri , at Monte Circeo and at Antium . Examples include

2208-462: The Anglo-Saxon parish church was built (not by chance) upon its site. Grave-diggers preparing for burials in the churchyard as late as the 18th century had to punch through the intact mosaic floors. The even more palatial villa rustica at Fishbourne near Winchester was built (uncharacteristically) as a large open rectangle, with porticos enclosing gardens entered through a portico. Towards

2304-456: The Art Deco Cinema Impero , "Cubist" Africa Pension, eclectic Orthodox Cathedral and former Opera House , the futurist Fiat Tagliero Building , the neo-Romanesque Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara , and the neoclassical Governor's Palace . The city is littered with Italian colonial villas and mansions . Most of central Asmara was built between 1935 and 1941, so effectively

2400-823: The Château de Ferrières is an example of the Italian Neo-Renaissance style villa – and in Britain the Mentmore Towers . A representative building of this style in Germany is Villa Haas (designed by Ludwig Hofmann) in Hesse . Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki (built in 1834–46) represents Empire-era villa architecture. It was the home of Aurora Karamzin (1808–1902) at the end of the 19th century and

2496-646: The Cinema Impero . A statement from UNESCO read: It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context. The Historic Center of Asmara was placed on the World Monuments Fund 's 2006 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites. The listing was designed to bring more attention to the city to save the center from decay and redevelopment and to promote restoration. Following CARP (a World Bank initiative on Cultural Heritage),

2592-696: The European Union Delegation in Asmara has engaged into a Heritage Project pertaining to building's restoration and archive management. Launched in 2010 the EU/Eritrea Cultural Project was expected to be completed in 2014 (Pierre Couté – Edward Denison, Project Design Report, EUD Asmara 2009). Four big landmarks of the city are the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Kidane Mehret Cathedral of

2688-576: The Farnese . Near Siena in Tuscany, the Villa Cetinale was built by Cardinal Flavio Chigi . He employed Carlo Fontana , pupil of Gian Lorenzo Bernini to transform the villa and dramatic gardens in a Roman Baroque style by 1680. The Villa Lante garden is one of the most sublime creations of the Italian villa in the landscape, completed in the 17th century. In the later 16th century in

2784-518: The Franks . Kintzheim was Villa Regis , the "villa of the king". Around 590, Saint Eligius was born in a highly placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat near Limoges , in Aquitaine (now France). The abbey at Stavelot was founded ca 650 on the domain of a former villa near Liège and the abbey of Vézelay had a similar founding. As Europe's influence spread to other cultures,

2880-666: The Gamble House and the villas by Greene and Greene in Pasadena, California Modern architecture has produced some important examples of buildings known as villas: Country-villa examples: Today, the term "villa" is often applied to vacation rental properties. In the United Kingdom the term is used for high quality detached homes in warm destinations, particularly Florida and the Mediterranean. The term

2976-636: The Italian Eritrean cuisine are 'Pasta al Sugo e Berbere', which means "pasta with tomato sauce and berbere " (spice), " lasagna " and "cotoletta alla milanese" (milano cutlet). Asmara was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2017, becoming the first modernist city anywhere to be listed in its entirety. The inscription taking place during the 41st World Heritage Committee Session. The city has thousands of Art Deco , futurist , modernist , and rationalist buildings, constructed during

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3072-548: The Latin Rite , while some are converts to other denominations of Christianity . Asmara Asmara ( / æ s ˈ m ɑː r ə / əs- MAHR -ə ), or Asmera , is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea , in the country's Central Region . It sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The city

3168-1252: The Liebermann Villa and Britz House in Berlin, Albrechtsberg , Eckberg, Villa Stockhausen and Villa San Remo  [ de ] in Dresden , Villa Waldberta in Feldafing , Villa Kennedy  [ de ] in Frankfurt , Jenisch House and Budge-Palais in Hamburg , Villa Andreae  [ de ] and Villa Rothschild  [ de ; ar ; fr ] in Königstein , Villa Stuck and Pacelli-Palais  [ de ] in Munich , Schloss Klink at Lake Müritz , Villa Ludwigshöhe in Rhineland-Palatinate , Villa Haux in Stuttgart and Weinberg House in Waren . In France

3264-490: The Mediterranean , residences of above average size in the countryside. Roman villas included: In terms of design, there was often little difference in the main residence between these types at any particular level of size, but the presence or absence of farm outbuildings reflected the size and function of the estate. Not included as villae were the domus , city houses for the élite and privileged classes, and

3360-579: The Neo-Palladian a part of the late 17th century and on Renaissance Revival architecture period. In the early 18th century the English took up the term, and applied it to compact houses in the country, especially those accessible from London: Chiswick House is an example of such a "party villa". Thanks to the revival of interest in Palladio and Inigo Jones , soon Neo-Palladian villas dotted

3456-718: The Queen Anne style Victorian architecture and Beaux-Arts architecture . Communities such as Montecito , Pasadena , Bel Air , Beverly Hills , and San Marino in Southern California, and Atherton and Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area are a few examples of villa density. The popularity of Mediterranean Revival architecture in its various iterations over the last century has been consistently used in that region and in Florida . Just

3552-521: The Scuola Italiana di Asmara , renowned in Eritrea for its sports activities, closed in 2020. Italian is still spoken in commerce in Eritrea. Until 1975, there were in Asmara an Italian Lyceum, an Italian Technical Institute, an Italian Middle school and special university courses in Medicine held by Italian teachers. Gino Corbella, an Italian consul in Asmara, estimated that the diffusion of

3648-654: The Villa Giulia of Pope Julius III (1550), designed by Vignola . The Roman villas Villa Ludovisi and Villa Montalto, were destroyed during the late nineteenth century in the wake of the real estate bubble that took place in Rome after the seat of government of a united Italy was established at Rome. The cool hills of Frascati gained the Villa Aldobrandini (1592); the Villa Falconieri and

3744-597: The Villa Godi , the Villa Forni Cerato , the Villa Capra "La Rotonda" , and Villa Foscari . The Villas are grouped into an association (Associazione Ville Venete) and offer touristic itineraries and accommodation possibilities. Soon after in Greenwich England, following his 1613–1615 Grand Tour , Inigo Jones designed and built the Queen's House between 1615 and 1617 in an early Palladian architecture style adaptation in another country. The Palladian villa style renewed its influence in different countries and eras and remained influential for over four hundred years, with

3840-424: The Villa Mondragone . The Villa d'Este near Tivoli is famous for the water play in its terraced gardens . The Villa Medici was on the edge of Rome, on the Pincian Hill , when it was built in 1540. Besides these designed for seasonal pleasure, usually located within easy distance of a city, other Italian villas were remade from a rocca or castello, as the family seat of power, such as Villa Caprarola for

3936-464: The Villa del Trebbio and that at Cafaggiolo , both strong fortified houses built in the 14th century in the Mugello region near Florence . In 1450, Giovanni de' Medici commenced on a hillside the Villa Medici in Fiesole , Tuscany , probably the first villa created under the instructions of Leon Battista Alberti , who theorized the features of the new idea of villa in his De re aedificatoria . These first examples of Renaissance villa predate

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4032-447: The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum ; and the Villa of the Mysteries and Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii . There was an important villa maritima in Barcola near Trieste. This villa was located directly on the coast and was divided into terraces in a representation area in which luxury and power was displayed, a separate living area, a garden, some facilities open to the sea and a thermal bath. Not far from this noble place, which

4128-403: The desertification of the soil. In order to obtain nutrient rich and moist soil for farming purposes, populations rely on deforestation to make use of the underlying ground. The most serious environmental issues Asmara faces are deforestation and desertification. Other issues Asmara faces are soil erosion and overgrazing . All of these environmental issues produce soil degradation . The city

4224-430: The futurist Fiat Tagliero Building , the neo-Romanesque Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara , and the neoclassical Governor's Palace . The city is adorned by Italian colonial villas and mansions , one prominent example being the World Bank Building . Most of central Asmara was built between 1935 and 1941, so the Italians effectively managed to build almost an entire city in just six years. At this time,

4320-496: The Americas from Spain and Portugal, by the Spanish Colonial Revival style with regional variations. In the 20th century International Style villas were designed by Roberto Burle Marx , Oscar Niemeyer , Luis Barragán , and other architects developing a unique Euro-Latin synthesized aesthetic. Villas are particularly well represented in California and the West Coast of the United States, where they were originally commissioned by well travelled "upper-class" patrons moving on from

4416-464: The Asmera area on the Kebessa Plateau: the Gheza Gurtom, the Gheza Shelele, the Gheza Serenser and Gheza Asmae. These villages were frequently attacked by clans from the lowlands, until the women of each clan decided that to preserve peace the four clans must unite. The men accepted, hence the name "Arbate Asmera". Arbate Asmera literally means, in the Tigrinya language , "the four (feminine plural) made them unite". The first mention of Asmara comes from

4512-416: The Catholic faith (the former of Latin and the latter of Coptic rite), the Enda Mariam Cathedral of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church , and the Al Khulafa Al Rashiudin Mosque of the Islamic faith. The population in the Central Region , which contains Asmara, is 89 percent Christian (almost 84 percent Orthodox, 4 percent Roman Catholic, and more than 1 percent Protestant) and 5 percent Muslim. Asmara

4608-528: The Ethiopian government, like the brothers Italo Vassalo and Luciano Vassalo , champions of football who won the 1962 African Cup of Nations , but since then the Eritrean Italians have diminished as a community and now are reduced to a few hundreds, mainly located in the capital Asmara. The most renowned of them is the professional cyclist Domenico Vaccaro, who won the last stage of the Tour of Eritrea in Asmara in April 2008. Most Italian Eritreans can speak Italian . The last remaining Italian-language school,

4704-430: The Italian administration of Eritrea, but the country soon became involved in a violent struggle for independence (from the British in the late 1940s and, after 1952, from the Ethiopians, who annexed Eritrea in that year). After the defeat of Italy, 70,000 Italian settlers remained in Eritrea. The British military administration arrested and deported substantial numbers of the settler population as they were implicated with

4800-443: The Italian fascist regime. Some settlers were involved in confrontations with Eritreans. The Italians in Eritrea started to move away from the country after the final defeat of the Kingdom of Italy by the Allies , and by the time of the British census of 1949 Asmara had only 17,183 Italian Eritreans of a total population of 127,579. Most Italian settlers left for Italy, with others to United States, Middle East and Australia. During

4896-438: The Italian language in Eritrea was supported even by the fact that in 1959, nearly 20,000 Eritreans were descendants of Italians who had illegitimate sons/daughters with Eritrean women during colonial times. The assimilated Italian Eritreans of the new generations (in 2007 they numbered nearly 900 persons) speak Tigrinya and only a bit of Italian or speak Italian as second language. Nearly all are Roman Catholic Christians of

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4992-418: The Italians designed and enabled the local Eritrean population to build almost an entire city, in just six years. The city of Asmara had a population of 98,000, of which 53,000 were Italians according to the Italian census of 1939. This fact made Asmara the main "Italian town" of the Italian empire in Africa. In all Eritrea the Italians were 75,000 in that year. Numerous industrial investments were done by

5088-452: The Italians in the area of Asmara and Massawa , but the beginning of World War II put a halt to the Italian industrialization of Eritrea. The following Italian guerrilla war against the Allies was supported by some Eritrean colonial troops until the Italian armistice in September 1943. Eritrea was placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in World War II . The Italians in Eritrea started to move away from

5184-425: The State. From 1882 to 1941 Eritrea was ruled by the Kingdom of Italy . In those sixty years Eritrea was populated - mainly in the area of Asmara - by groups of Italian colonists, who moved there from the beginning of the 20th century. The Italian Eritreans grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II. Italian administration of Eritrea brought some of their own methods in

5280-410: The age of Lorenzo de' Medici , who added the Villa di Poggio a Caiano by Giuliano da Sangallo , begun in 1470, in Poggio a Caiano , Province of Prato , Tuscany . From Tuscany the idea of villa was spread again through Renaissance Italy and Europe. The Quattrocento villa gardens were treated as a fundamental and aesthetic link between a residential building and the outdoors, with views over

5376-452: The areas of construction, mechanics, textiles, electricity and food processing. Consequently, the living standard of life in Eritrea in 1939 was considered one of the best of Africa for the Italian colonists and for the Eritreans. The Mussolini government regarded the colony as a strategic base for future aggrandizement and ruled accordingly, using Eritrea as a base to launch its 1935–1936 campaign to colonize Ethiopia . In 1939 nearly 40% of

5472-426: The beginning of World War II brought this to a halt. UNESCO made Asmara a World Heritage Site in July 2017, saying "It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context". In 1952, the United Nations resolved to federate the former colony under Ethiopian rule. During the Federation, Asmara was no longer the capital city. The capital

5568-577: The capital. Asmara Brewery , built 1939 under the name of Melotti, is located in the city and employs 600 people. The brewery produces Asmara beer and other beverages like rum and gin. The brewery also owns and operates as a sponsor of the local football team Asmara Brewery FC , also named "Asmara Birra" (translated "Asmara Beer"). After Eritrean independence, the roads of Asmara underwent extensive construction projects. Old roads were renovated and new highways were also built. There are five primary roads out of Asmara. Asmara International Airport serves

5664-408: The city suffered only slight damage in large earthquakes. A large Italian community developed the city. According to the 1939 census, Asmara had a population of 98,000, of whom 53,000 were Italian. Only 75,000 Italians lived in all of Eritrea, thus making the capital city by far their largest centre. (Compare this to the Italian colonization of Libya , where the settler population, albeit larger,

5760-521: The city was being built. The city incorporates many features of a planned city. Asmara has wide streets, restaurants, piazzas (town squares), bars and cafes while many of the boulevards are lined with palms trees. The Italian inspired food and culture is very present and was introduced during Italian Eritrea . Countless restaurants and cafes, serve high quality espresso , cappuccinos and lattes , as well as gelato parlours and restaurants with Italian Eritrean cuisine . Common dishes served from

5856-406: The city with many international flights. Massawa International Airport is an alternative airport nearby. As of 1999, there is a total of 317 kilometres of 950 mm ( 3 ft  1 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) (narrow gauge) rail line in Eritrea. The Eritrean Railway was built between 1887 and 1932. Badly damaged during WWII and in later fighting, it was closed section by section, with

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5952-457: The country after the defeat of the Kingdom of Italy by the Allies , and Asmara in the British census of 1949 already had only 17,183 Italian Eritreans on a total population of 127,579. Most Italian settlers left for Italy, with others to United States, Middle East, and Australia. Eritrea was placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in the East African Campaign in World War II . The British initially maintained

6048-427: The dictator Benito Mussolini had great plans for a second Roman Empire in Africa. War cut this short, but his injection of funds created the Asmara of today, which supposedly was to be a symbol to the colonial fascism during that period of time. The city shows off most early 20th-century architectural styles. Some buildings are neo-Romanesque , such as the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, some villas are built in

6144-488: The economic independence of later rural villas was a symptom of the increasing economic fragmentation of the Roman Empire . Archaeologists have meticulously examined numerous Roman villas in England . Like their Italian counterparts, they were complete working agrarian societies of fields and vineyards , perhaps even tileworks or quarries , ranged round a high-status power centre with its baths and gardens. The grand villa at Woodchester preserved its mosaic floors when

6240-423: The eighth century, Gallo-Roman villas in the Merovingian royal fisc were repeatedly donated as sites for monasteries under royal patronage in Gaul – Saint-Maur-des-Fossés and Fleury Abbey provide examples. In Germany a famous example is Echternach ; as late as 698, Willibrord established an abbey at a Roman villa of Echternach near Trier , presented to him by Irmina , daughter of Dagobert II , king of

6336-458: The end of the 3rd century, Roman towns in Britain ceased to expand: like patricians near the centre of the empire, Roman Britons withdrew from the cities to their villas, which entered on a palatial building phase, a "golden age" of villa life. Villae rusticae are essential in the Empire's economy. Two kinds of villa-plan in Roman Britain may be characteristic of Roman villas in general. The more usual plan extended wings of rooms all opening onto

6432-410: The fifth century, but the concept of an isolated, self-sufficient agrarian working community, housed close together, survived into Anglo-Saxon culture as the vill , with its inhabitants – if formally bound to the land – as villeins . In regions on the Continent, aristocrats and territorial magnates donated large working villas and overgrown abandoned ones to individual monks ; these might become

6528-410: The final closure coming in 1978. After independence, a rebuilding effort commenced, and the first rebuilt section was reopened in 2003. As of 2009, the section from Asmara to Massawa was fully rebuilt and available for service. Asmara has always been a national centre of education, and is home to many elementary and high schools. It was home to the University of Asmara from 1958 until the university

6624-452: The final years of World War II, Vincenzo di Meglio had defended the Italians of Eritrea politically and successively promoted the independence of Eritrea. After the war he was named director of the Comitato Rappresentativo Italiani dell' Eritrea (CRIE). In 1947 he supported the creation of the "Associazione Italo-Eritrei" and the "Associazione Veterani Ascari" in order to ally with the Eritreans favorable to Italy in Eritrea. He co-founded

6720-401: The form, and use of the villa would also spread as well. In post-Roman times a villa referred to a self-sufficient, usually fortified Italian or Gallo-Roman farmstead. It was economically as self-sufficient as a village and its inhabitants, who might be legally tied to it as serfs were villeins . The Merovingian Franks inherited the concept, followed by the Carolingian French but

6816-441: The independence of Eritrea. Asmara was left relatively undamaged throughout the war, as were the majority of highland regions. After independence, Asmara again became the capital of Eritrea. The city lies at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 feet) above sea level . It lies on north–south trending highlands known as the Eritrean Highlands , an extension of the Ethiopian Highlands . The temperate central portion, where Asmara lies,

6912-417: The later French term was basti or bastide. Villa / Vila (or its cognates) is part of many Spanish and Portuguese placenames, like Vila Real and Villadiego : a villa / vila is a town with a charter ( fuero or foral ) of lesser importance than a ciudad / cidade ("city"). When it is associated with a personal name, villa was probably used in the original sense of a country estate rather than

7008-508: The male Eritreans able to fight were enrolled in the colonial Italian Army: the best Italian colonial troops during World War II were the Eritrean Ascari , as stated by Italian Marshall Rodolfo Graziani and legendary officer Amedeo Guillet . Asmara was populated by a numerous Italian community and the city acquired an Italian architectural look. Today Asmara is worldwide known for its early 20th-century Italian buildings, including

7104-455: The medical and agricultural sectors of Eritrean society (i.e. other access to sanitary and hospital services in the urban areas). Furthermore, the Italians employed many Eritreans in public service (in particular in the police and public works departments) and oversaw the provision of urban amenities in Asmara and Massawa . In a region marked by cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity,

7200-682: The northeastern Italian Peninsula the Palladian villas of the Veneto , designed by Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), were built in Vicenza in the Republic of Venice . Palladio always designed his villas with reference to their setting. He often unified all the farm buildings into the architecture of his extended villas while focusing on symmetry and perfect proportion. Examples are the Villa Emo ,

7296-523: The nuclei of monasteries . In this way, the Italian villa system of late Antiquity survived into the early Medieval period in the form of monasteries that withstood the disruptions of the Gothic War (535–554) and the Lombards . About 529 Benedict of Nursia established his influential monastery of Monte Cassino in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero . From the sixth to

7392-477: The period of Italian Eritrea . The city, nicknamed " La piccola Roma " ("Little Rome"), is located over 2,000 meters above sea level, and was an ideal spot for construction due to the relatively cool climate; architects used a combination of both Italian and local materials. Some notable buildings include the Fiat Tagliero Building , Bar Zilli , opera houses, hotels, and cinemas, such as

7488-575: The political and racial superiority of Italians. Eritreans were demoted to menial positions in the public sector in 1938. Eritrea was chosen by the Italian government to be the industrial center of the Italian East Africa . The Italian government continued to implement agricultural reforms but primarily on farms owned by Italian colonists (exports of coffee boomed in the thirties). In the area of Asmara there were in 1940 more than 2000 small and medium-sized industrial companies, concentrated in

7584-565: The residence of the Bahr Negash or the governor of the coastal province, however it still existed as a major settlement for over half a millennium and enjoyed some importance as it stood on the trade route to Massawa . Asmara first rose to prominence during the 20th century, when it became capital of Italian Eritrea . Under Italian rule the city of Asmara experienced rapid urbanization and modernization. According to Eritrean Tigrinya oral traditional history, there were four clans living in

7680-765: The rest of the Old South functioned as the Roman Latifundium villas had. A later revival, in the Gilded Age and early 20th century, produced The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island , Filoli in Woodside, California , and Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. ; by architects-landscape architects such as Richard Morris Hunt , Willis Polk , and Beatrix Farrand . In the nineteenth century,

7776-486: The rule, replaced by stone buildings for the important ceremonial rooms. Traces of window glass have been found, as well as ironwork window grilles . With the decline and collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, the villas were more and more isolated and came to be protected by walls. In England the villas were abandoned, looted , and burned by Anglo-Saxon invaders in

7872-661: The slope above the Vatican Palace . The Villa Madama , the design of which, attributed to Raphael and carried out by Giulio Romano in 1520, was one of the most influential private houses ever built; elements derived from Villa Madama appeared in villas through the 19th century. Villa Albani was built near the Porta Salaria. Other are the Villa Borghese ; the Villa Doria Pamphili (1650);

7968-410: The subtropical thorn woodland biome. Rainfall patterns differ from month to month with highest precipitation in July and August, and lower precipitation in other months. Asmara has warm, but not hot summers and mild winters. Due to its 2,325-metre (7,628 ft) altitude, temperatures are relatively mild for a city located not particularly far from the hotter surroundings in the country. This climate

8064-602: The term villa was extended to describe any large suburban house that was free-standing in a landscaped plot of ground. By the time 'semi-detached villas' were being erected at the turn of the twentieth century, the term collapsed under its extension and overuse. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the creation of large "Villenkolonien" in the German speaking countries, wealthy residential areas that were completely made up of large mansion houses and often built to an artfully created masterplan. Also many large mansions for

8160-546: The term is more popularly applied to vacation rental usually located in countryside area. In Australia, "villas" or "villa units" are terms used to describe a type of townhouse complex which contains, possibly smaller attached or detached houses of up to 3–4 bedrooms that were built since the early 1980s. In New Zealand , "villa" refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian wooden weatherboard houses mainly built between 1880 and 1914, characterised by high ceilings (often 3.7 m or 12 ft), sash windows , and

8256-439: The three months combined. Due to variable rainfall, Asmara's climate is also characterized by drought. Several prolonged droughts in this region have occurred beginning in the 1960s and have recurred each decade since then. During periods of drought, temperatures are high and little rainfall occurs. As temperatures in a region increase, the rate of evaporation of water from the soil also increases. These combined processes result in

8352-791: The valley of the River Thames and English countryside. Marble Hill House in England was conceived originally as a "villa" in the 18th-century sense. In many ways the late 18th century Monticello , by Thomas Jefferson in Virginia , United States is a Palladian Revival villa. Other examples of the period and style are Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Maryland ; and many pre- American Civil War or antebellum plantations , such as Westover Plantation and many other James River plantations as well dozens of Antebellum era plantations in

8448-986: The wealthy German industrialists were built, such as Villa Hügel in Essen . The Villenkolonie of Lichterfelde West in Berlin was conceived after an extended trip by the architect through the South of England. Representative historicist mansions in Germany include the Heiligendamm and other resort architecture mansions at the Baltic Sea, Rose Island and King's House on Schachen in the Bavarian Alps , Villa Dessauer in Bamberg , Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth , Drachenburg near Bonn , Hammerschmidt Villa in Bonn ,

8544-683: The west of the plateau stretches a vast semi-arid hilly terrain continuing all the way towards the border with Sudan through the Gash-Barka Region . Asmara has a cool semi-arid climate ( BSk ) according to the Köppen climate classification . It has year-round moderately warm weather, with recorded temperatures ranging between a minimum of −4.5 °C or 23.9 °F and a maximum of 31.0 °C or 87.8 °F. It has an average humidity of 51% and an UV-index of 6. Holdridge life zones system of bioclimatic classification put Asmara in or near

8640-532: Was Eritrean freedom, but they had a pre-condition that stated that before independence the country should be governed by Italy for at least 15 years (as would happen with Italian Somalia). With the peace treaty of 1947 , the new Italian Republic officially accepted the end of the colony. As a consequence the Italian community started to disappear, especially after the Ethiopian Empire took control of Eritrea in 1952. Some Italo-Eritrean were welcomed by

8736-529: Was already popular with the Romans because of its favorable microclimate, one of the most important Villa Maritima of its time, the Miramare Castle , was built in the 19th century. Wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills round Rome, especially around Tibur ( Tivoli and Frascati ), such as at Hadrian's Villa . Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of which

8832-403: Was more dispersed.) The capital acquired an Italian architectural look . Europeans used Asmara "to experiment with radical new designs". By the late 1930s, Asmara was called Piccola Roma (Little Rome). Journalist John Gunther noted in 1955 that "the Italians built [Asmara] well, like Tripoli , with handsome wide streets, ornate public buildings, and even such refinements of civilization as

8928-491: Was near Arpinum , which he inherited. Pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. Roman writers refer with satisfaction to the self-sufficiency of their latifundium villas, where they drank their own wine and pressed their own oil . This was an affectation of urban aristocrats playing at being old-fashioned virtuous Roman farmers, it has been said that

9024-551: Was now Addis Ababa , over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to the south. In 1961, Emperor Haile Selassie I ended the "federal" arrangement and declared the territory to be the 14th province of the Ethiopian Empire . Ethiopia's biggest ally was the United States. The city was home to the US Army 's Kagnew Station installation from 1943 until 1977. The Eritrean War of Independence began in 1961 and ended in 1991, resulting in

9120-534: Was shut down in 2006, following the opening of a university at Mai Nefhi . During the period of Ethiopian Federation and annexation, the university was also linked with what was then the nation's largest tertiary institution, Addis Ababa University . Secondary School's Asmara is divided into 13 districts or administrative areas. These districts are subdivided into North, North-West, North-East, South-East, South-West, East, West and Central areas. The thirteen districts (or Neous Zobas ) are: Villa A villa

9216-579: Was the erection of rather minimalist mansions in the Bauhaus style since the 1920s, that also continues until today. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden "villa" denotes most forms of single-family detached homes , regardless of size and standard. The villa concept lived and lives on in the haciendas of Latin America and the estancias of Brazil and Argentina. The oldest are original Portuguese and Spanish Colonial architecture ; followed after independences in

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