Massawa

Massawa presents two faces separated by a narrow causeway. The old Ottoman city on Taulud Island is a maze of coral-stone buildings, many still bearing the scars of fighting from 1990–1991 when Eritrean fighters besieged the Ethiopian garrison here in one of the final battles of the independence war. Roofs collapsed, walls pockmarked by shells, stairways that climb to nowhere — the destruction was never systematically cleared, and the ruins coexist with buildings that remain inhabited. The overall effect is of a city caught between the Ottoman era and the present, its historic fabric slowly weathering in the humid Red Sea air while generations of residents continue to live and work amid the ruins.

Across the causeway, the Italian colonial quarter on the mainland is more orderly: wide streets, masonry buildings with arched colonnades, a palm-lined waterfront promenade that was clearly designed for a much larger and wealthier population. The old palace of Emperor Haile Selassie sits at the water's edge, now partially restored after years of neglect. Massawa's port remains Eritrea's primary maritime gateway, handling the country's imports and exports, and the harbour is often crowded with dhows and cargo vessels. The salt trade that gave the city its older Arabic name, Bahr, remains visible in the salt pans that line the approaches to town, a reminder of the commodity that first drew Ottoman merchants and later Italian colonial administrators to this stretch of coast.

The temperature in Massawa is significantly higher than in Asmara, often exceeding 35°C in summer, and the humidity from the Red Sea makes the heat feel heavier. The best time to visit is between October and March, when the weather is more tolerable and the city is less enervating. A walk through the old city in the early morning, before the full heat of the day, reveals details of Ottoman domestic architecture — carved wooden balconies, coral-stone walls, small enclosed courtyards — that speak to a prosperous trading past. The contrast between this and the rigid Italian planning of the mainland quarter is the essence of Massawa's urban character.

For travellers arriving from the highlands, the sudden descent to sea level and the change from highland air to Red Sea humidity is immediately perceptible. Massawa is also the gateway to the Dahlak Archipelago, and the harbour is where dive boats and fishing vessels depart for the islands. The city has a weathered, patient quality, as if accustomed to waiting — waiting for trade, waiting for peace, waiting for the tourists that have never fully arrived. That patience is also a form of dignity, and the old city rewards those who take the time to walk its lanes slowly, imagining the Ottoman merchants, the Italian administrators and the Eritrean fighters who each shaped the place in their own image.

One of the most atmospheric historic port cities on the Red Sea, with a remarkable layering of Ottoman and Italian colonial urban fabric.

The ruins of the 1990 independence battle give the old city an unusually raw, ungentrified quality rarely found in East African coastal towns.

The gateway to the Dahlak Archipelago and the Red Sea diving that lies offshore.