This is the historic city of Debarwa. Debarwa was the capital of the Medri Bahri kingdom. Debarwa is 28 km south of Asmara and belongs to the Debub region (Seraye).
From this highland town the Bahr Negash ruled Medri Bahri, the “Land of the Sea,” the medieval kingdom that covered much of what is now the Eritrean plateau between the Red Sea and the Mereb. Seraye was one of its core provinces, and Debarwa stood on the old road linking Massawa with the interior.
The town later remained a market and district center in Debub, but its historic identity is that of a royal capital: the seat of Medri Bahri, 28 kilometers south of Asmara, in Seraye.