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Enda Mariam Cathedral (
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Edward Denison, Edward Paice, ''Eritrea: The Bradt Travel Guide'' (Bradt Travel Guides 2007), p. 117
The 1920 form has also been attributed to Odoardo Cavagnari, who designed Asmara Theatre and Asmara's futuristic Fiat Tagliero service station, and who was Asmara's Chief of Public Works, Both the central block and the two large freestanding square towers that flank it are built in alternate layers of brick and stone, emulating the layers of wood and stone of Aksumite architecture, a technique that has been for centuries in use in the Eritrean highlands. The protruding wooden support beams in these structures have been named "monkey heads".
It is one of three prominent religious landmarks in the city, the others being the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Kulafah Al Rashidan Great Mosque.
Tigrinya
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literatur ...
: ቤተ-ክርስትያን እንዳ ማርያም) is an Eritrean Orthodox church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chri ...
in Asmara
Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...
, Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...
. The cathedral is located on Arbate Asmara Street.
Name
In theTigrinya language
(; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.
History and literat ...
''enda'' (እንዳ) means "the place of, the habitat of (an object, a person, etc)". Thus, when combined with another noun, indicates a structure associated with that other thing. Thus ''enda bani'' (bread) means a bakery, ''enda afras'' (horses) means a stable, ''enda dewel'' (bell) means a church tower or belfry, ''enda tseba'' (milk) means a dairy. ''Mariam'' (ማርያም) means Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. The church is also called ''Kidisti Mariam'' (Saint Mary).Eritrean Ministry of Information, "History of Saint Mary Church"/ref>
Description
The church (in a simple wooden structure) was present in Asmara since the late 19th century. In the early 1930s, the Italian governor of Asmara ordered to create an improved structure with modern building materials and under the supervision of Italian architects. In its present rationalist/modernist style, the church dates from 1938, when an unknown Italian architect, added the upper portions of the two flanking towers and the modernistic treatment of the façade to the 1920 form designed by Ernesto Gallo.Sean Anderson, ''Modern Architecture and its Representation in Colonial Eritrea: An In-visible Colony, 1890-1941'' (Routledge 2016), Illustration 2.34Edward Denison, Edward Paice, ''Eritrea: The Bradt Travel Guide'' (Bradt Travel Guides 2007), p. 117
The 1920 form has also been attributed to Odoardo Cavagnari, who designed Asmara Theatre and Asmara's futuristic Fiat Tagliero service station, and who was Asmara's Chief of Public Works, Both the central block and the two large freestanding square towers that flank it are built in alternate layers of brick and stone, emulating the layers of wood and stone of Aksumite architecture, a technique that has been for centuries in use in the Eritrean highlands. The protruding wooden support beams in these structures have been named "monkey heads".
Earlier forms
In his account of the visit to Eritrea in 1891 by a Royal Commission sent by the Italian government, Ferdinando Martini, in line with his derogatory attitude towards all matters concerning the native "Abyssinians", described the then church at Asmara as less decent than the huts for hay in Italian farmyards. The illustrated fourth (1896) edition of his book includes a photograph of the church, some seven metres long, with traditional "monkey head" walls and a thatched roof whose projection beyond the walls was supported by rough poles. A 1922 photograph of the church and its two towers in their 1920 form shows that it then had no trace of more contemporary, European styles.Other prominent religious buildings
It is one of three prominent religious landmarks in the city, the others being the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Kulafah Al Rashidan Great Mosque.
Annual feast
The church's Nigdet (religious feast) of Saint Mary is celebrated on 30 November (1 December if the followingGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
year is a leap year
A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or ...
).
Gallery
References
External links
{{Authority control Cathedrals in Asmara Oriental Orthodox cathedrals in Eritrea Modernist architecture in Eritrea Churches completed in 1938