In its present rationalist/modernist style, the church dates from 1938, when an unknown Italian architect,[REF] added the upper portions of the two flanking towers and the modernistic treatment of the façade to the 1920 form designed by Ernesto Gallo [REF].
Both the central block and the two large freestanding square towers that flank it are built in alternate layers of brick and stone, emulating the layers of wood and stone of Aksumite architecture, a technique that has been for centuries in use in the Eritrean highlands.