Fiat Tagliero Building
Fiat Tagliero
A futurist petrol station completed in 1938, with two 15-metre cantilevered “wings” that jut out without columns. A symbol of Asmara's modernism.
The Fiat Tagliero building was designed by Italian engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi and is shaped like an airplane about to take off. Its two reinforced-concrete cantilevered wings, each about 15 metres long and unsupported by any columns, are said to have been so daring that workers were too afraid to remove the formwork, and the designer reportedly had to force them to finish at gunpoint. The station no longer sells fuel and is now preserved as a city landmark. Visitors can freely walk around the exterior and take photos. It is located southwest of the city centre, about 15 minutes' walk from Harnet Avenue.
Opening hours
Exterior viewing only
Nearby sights
- Bar Zilli
- Tank Graveyard
- Asmara Theatre
- Harnet Avenue
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Cinema Impero
- Great Mosque of Asmara
- Medebar Market