Altit Village

From top of Altit Fort, a broad view of the lush green Altit Village of Hunza can be seen. The historical settlement of Altit village is exceptional restored by Aga Khan Cultural Service. Houses are beautifully crafted within the lush green trees of apricot, walnut, and cherry.

Restoration of old Settlement of Altit village

The historical alleys of old settlement of Altit village on the height of 7,999 feet is restored using local materials, supporting the structures while decorating with modernizing techniques, use of underground sanitation pipelines without impacting the historical aesthetic beauty of the town. The restoration work was done by the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan and got the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation on its splendid work.

Walk Through the Narrow Alleys

Visitors can walk through the labyrinth of multi-story houses build with mud and stone with the support of timbers. Most of the houses have shared walls as a insulator to preserve heat within the boundaries. The local furniture workshops, known as Ciqam Woodworking Workshop, operated by highly skilled women artisan to craft best quality local wood carving and carpentry using techniques of eco-friendly furniture engineering.

Local Culture and Traditions of the Valley

To preserve the local culture and music, the Leif Larsen Music Center was established there. It is a dedicated heritage center to provide acoustic sessions physically. It is providing an opportunity for preserving traditional mountain instruments by providing research spaces. It provides trainings to young generation to learn the complex art of the rubab, flute, and drum. In this way, they are struggling to prevent old local musical from vanishing.

The Central Square is an open and central community stone platform for community gathering. The area is shaded by surrounding clusters of trees. Historically, the area was also served as community gathering where elder people of the town were used to resolve the matters related to water distribution and agricultural schedule for the local people.

How to Access Altit Village

To begin the walk through the old settlement, park your vehicle in the parking zone at the beginning of town. Now, you are on the hand-made stoned pathways around the old village. From here you can entry inside the town to explore the local work of women artisan in the Ciqam yards. Moving through the narrow pathways through the labyrinth to explore the mud and stones houses having balconies in the second story. These houses are decorated beautiful with local cultural touch. The construction was incredibly designed to keep out freezing drafts and bad weather conditions.

Searching for another exceptional look to explore how the historical and traditional high-altitude local architecture has been preserved across the valley, discover in our Ganesh Village Museum Guide.

About Gojal Upper Hunza

Gojal is the largest city in Baltistan next to Hunza, having a border with China and Afghanistan. It connects with China through the Khunjerab Pass and with Afghanistan through the Chapursan Valley. Gojal, also known as Upper Hunza, is the highest mountains area in the Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges, at an average elevation of 4,000 meters.