Renowned
for its deep anchorage, the ancient port
town of Massawa on the Red Sea served
countless traders over the centuries when
it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, Egypt,
and more recently Italy. The city’s long
and complex history is evident in its
numerous historic buildings, including
Ottoman-period fortifications, the sixteenth-century
Sheik Hamal Mosque and a governor’s palace
commissioned by the Egyptian consul Werner
Munzinger in 1872.
Following the ousting of Italy from
the region in 1941, the Governor’s Palace
was used as a residence by Ethiopian
officials, who annexed Eritrea in 1952,
using Massawa as Ethiopia’s primary
entry point. The Ethiopian Emperor Haile
Selassie maintained a residence in the
Governor’s Palace until his regime fell
during the Ethiopian Civil War of 1976,
which exacted a substantial toll on
the city. Massawa’s buildings sustained
still further damage during the Eritrean
War of Independence in 1991, during
which time the city was bombed.
Since the end of hostilities, little
has been done to restore the city’s
historic buildings. Structures that
have survived, including the Governor’s
Palace, are now in danger of collapse.
Others have been razed to make way for
new development. The government recently
demolished a large area of the townscape
on the Talau Island off the coast to
build tourist resorts, setting a dangerous
precedent. Grassroots efforts, however,
are underway to reverse this trend.
A project has been proposed to create
a Free Trade Zone for the port of Massawa
as part of a larger economic revitalization
scheme, which includes a pilot project
for the Former Governor’s Palace to
serve as a model for other restoration
projects in Massawa. A technical survey
of the site has been carried out with
the hope of preserving it as a partial
ruin or restoring it for reuse.
