The Catholic Cathedral of St Mary, on Liberation Avenue, is the most prominent church in Asmara. Built between 1920 and 1923 in a romantic Lombard-Romanesque style, it has a slender brick bell tower, a rose window in the facade, and a pink-and-cream cloister on the side that is one of the calmest spaces in the city centre.
The interior is large but plain, with mosaic floors and stained glass that took decades to complete. The cathedral is still active and Sunday Mass is well attended. The tower can sometimes be climbed for a small fee — ask at the parish office on the cloister side.