 The westernized version of the name is used by a majority of non-Eritreans, while the multilingual inhabitants of Eritrea and neighboring peoples remain loyal to the original pronunciation, Asmera.The missionary Remedius Prutky passed through Asmera in 1751, and described in his memoirs that a church built there by Jesuit priests 130 years before was still intact.Asmera, a small village in the nineteenth century, started to grow quickly when it was occupied by Italy in 1889.