Back in the 1930s, Asmara was the most modern and fastest-growing town in Africa. An Italian colony since 1890, immigrant residents put their stamp on the city in the form of the avant-garde architecture that was popular in Europe at the time. As a result, the town (now the capital of Eritrea) has a frozen-in-time quality to it; though the Italians have long since gone, they left behind Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings that rivals any found elsewhere in the world, from New Zealand to Israel.

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