Massawa

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ miṣṣiwa, Arabic مصوع maṣṣawaʿ, Italian Massaua) and Batsiʿ (Ge'ez ባጽዕ bāṣiʿ, formerly ባጽዕ bāṣ́iʿ) or Badi (Arabic بِضع baḍiʿ) is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, Medri Bahri Kingdom, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Beja Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Britain, Italy and Ethiopia, until Eritrea's independence in 1991. Massawa was the capital of the Italian Colony of Eritrea until this was moved to Asmara in 1897.