Are you visiting Lahore? Well, of course, you will stop by the Shahi Qila (Lahore Fort). The Qila is the single, most-notable symbol of the dynastic rule in and around present-day Lahore. No tourist trip to Lahore is complete unless you enter the majestic, unconquerable walls of the Qila.
But it is a more than four century old complex, and time erodes the best of things. Yet the Fort has survived, quite literally, “the test of time.” It would be fanciful to say that the Fort survived on its own.
A dedicated amount of resources have been put in to keep the Lahore Fort in shape. It was in 1580 that Mughal Emperor Akbar built the Qila as we see it today. These were times when Lahore became the capital of the Mughal Empire.
Restoration and preservation of centuries-old grand sites is usually taken care of by government bodies. In case of Lahore Fort, as the work of preservation is gigantic, different international organizations pool in from time to time to support the Government of Punjab Province.
Currently, the Public Development Bank of France, AFD, has partnered with the Government to restore the Qila, to make it climate-resilient, and to preserve it for centuries to come.
For #WorldHeritageDay2025, let’s go to Pakistan!
👀Discover how we are investing in the restoration of Lahore Fort: a way to protect heritage & boost the country’s economy 🇵🇰@FranceinPak @araluck @cyrille_bellier @UNESCO
— AFD_en 🇫🇷 🇪🇺 (@AFD_en) April 18, 2025
April 18, each year, marks the World Heritage Day; a day dedicated to ancient monuments and sites. The work of preservation, however, continues 365 days of the year.
For the preservation project of the Lahore Fort, AFD has dedicated 22 million Euros, in addition to the Government of Punjab’s 1.8 million Euros.
About the project, AFD sounds hopeful and committed: “…it’s getting a new lease of life. AFD is backing fresh efforts to restore the World Heritage Site and major attraction, which will be a boon for tourism and the country’s economy as a whole.”
AFD calls the Qila a “fairy tale-like complex of buildings,” and a fairy-tale it is, in fact, as newly-married couples turn to the Qila for shoots. The decorated walls and the famous Sheesh Mahal (a palace of glass) attract fashion shoots and documentary-makers alike.
“In 1981, the Lahore Fort precinct and its 21 surviving monuments were inscribed as a World Heritage Site, but UNESCO declared it a Heritage Site in Danger in 2000, stressing the urgent need for major repairs,” AFD describes Lahore Fort’s journey of recognition and an urgent cry to save the momentous beauty.
Describing the preservation efforts, AFD recounts how the Aga Khan Trust for Culture was the first to step in and enter into collaboration with the World Bank and Punjab’s Government, in 2007. AFD, building on these efforts, entered into agreement in 2022 and is now executing the three-tier project.
- Tourism development with the construction of a state-of-the-art visitors’ centre along with conservation measures within the Fort itself.
- Improvement of the urban infrastructure, with conservation efforts, in the Buffer Zone around the Fort.
- Initiatives for the WCLA and its project partners to strengthen their capacity as well as the creation of a Project Implementation Unit.
Against the test of time, France and Pakistan are committed to protect the Shahi Qila from weather-caused erosion, extreme climate events, rapid urbanization, and ageing.
When tourists from in and out of the country stop at the Lahore Fort, they are mesmerized by the strength of the walls of the Qila, and for one passing moment, their own resilience comes face-to-face with the resilience of these walls.
The conservation of historical monuments thus becomes a work of deep passion and a promise that these sites must be available to the future inhabitants of Planet Earth, as they are available to us.
Nuzhat Rana is the Managing Editor (website) at The Diplomatic Insight.
