By Abbas Ali Majidkutz
Altit Fort is located in one of the most beautiful places on earth — the valley of Hunza. This magnificent 1,100-year-old fort is standing in a highly strategic location on the cliff of a mountain at the edge of Altit village. The stark blue Hunza River runs beneath the fort at approximately 100m deep. This seemingly dangerous but foundationally solid location was chosen to protect the fort from any potential invasion at that time.
A decade back Altit Fort was in a highly dilapidated condition due to negligence and lack of proper maintenance since it was abandoned by the old Mirs of Hunza. Unfortunately, in Pakistan negligence towards our precious heritage sites is very common, except for a few lucky ones. Altit Fort became one of those few highly lucky heritage sites when it was chosen by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) for restoration and to rehabilitate as a historic monument representing the craftsmanship, wisdom and social, economic and political engagement of the people within and around Hunza.
The restoration of the fort, costing millions of dollars, was completed over a period of six years. Although the restoration of this historic monument is itself a great achievement which has won the prestigious Unesco heritage award for the quality of its restoration work, the most alluring aspect is the concept of creating social enterprises where the preservation of heritage is synergised with socio-economic outcomes. The Aga Khan Cultural Services, Pakistan (AKCSP), which is responsible for the management and operations of the Altit Fort, has ventured on a programme incorporating gender development initiatives, linking it with hands-on socio-economic empowerment of women on a sustainable basis.
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