Eritrea, long referred to as Africa’s “Hermit Kingdom,” is finally opening up.

This is big news not just for adventure travelers but for architecture buffs, as its capital city is home to the largest, finest and most intact collection of modernist buildings anywhere in the world.

The rare trove of Italian colonial-era buildings has been seen by precious few outsiders because the Horn of Africa nation has long been something of a pariah state. Tides are turning. The U.N. Security Council just lifted its sanctions against Eritrea for making strides on human rights and press freedom. The country also recently inked a peace deal with its neighbor Ethiopia after warring on and off for 40 years.

And, in a long-awaited move, the capital of Asmara has been named a UNESCO World City Heritage Site, an honor that is rarely bestowed upon sub-Saharan Africa. The city has been called the “Miami of Africa” for its stunning concentration of buildings constructed between 1935 and 1941. During this era, Italy was bent on making its colonial outpost a futuristic utopia by experimenting with radical new design ideas.

That all came to end when Fascist Italy lost WWII and its control of Eritrea. Colonists vanquished, the Eritreans soon found themselves seemingly at endless war independence after being annexed by Ethiopia. After finally winning its independence in the 90s, Eritrea became an oppressive one-party state with one of the worst human rights records in the world. Because of the country’s extended isolation, the modernist metropolis has remained virtually untouched since the 1940s. With the promising new developments, however, Eritrea is opening up.

And while there is still a State Department Travel Advisory in effect, the country is largely considered safe (it’s designated a Level 2 for “Exercise Increased Caution” out of 4, which is “Do Not Travel”). A traveler is likely in danger of only coming for the architecture and staying for everything else: bocce clubs, chrome espresso machines, soaring mosques, women in gauzy white headscarves, Tigrinya music and a perfectly preserved 50s-era bowling alley. Oh, and of course, the top-notch pizza and gelato that’s as good as any you’d find in Roma. In fact, the city was once called “Piccola Roma” or “Little Rome.”

If you’re a thoughtful traveler who loves Africa, Italy, modernist architecture, history, being unencumbered by other tourists, or any combination of the above, Asmara is a thrilling city to explore.