One of the areas of Norwegian support to cultural heritage in Ethiopia is the restoration of king Fasiledes’ bath in Gonder. Fasiledes Bath is part of the large royal complex Fasil Ghebbi, a World Heritage site. Large parts of this enclosure have been renovated and restored with the support of NOK 4.5 million from the Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa between 2001-2007. The goal of the project has been to enable Fasiledes Bath to continue to provide its traditional religious services for the future in an authentic shape.
Many buildings make up the royal complex, and one of these is the bath of the first of the Gonder kings; Fasiledes (1635-1667). He is considered to be the founder of the city of Gonder as the country’s capital, in 1635. Fasiledes bath lies at the outskirts of the city centre, and the enclosure includes walls with guard rooms, royal stables, a healing house and main rest house, and a large pool.
Representatives from Ethiopia’s government have only positive comments regarding Norway as a donor, and the concrete restoration project in particular. The Gonder project was very effective in every respect due to little bureaucracy, a lot more local influence, and the real opportunity the project gave for local competence building. In Gonder 95% of the funds have been used on site. The project has also given employment opportunities for many local artisans and provided education for 50 local experts. This is a strong priority, as the government wants to give as many people as possible the feeling of ownership to the sites. Among the workers present during a visit by Norad a large majority were women. Women’s unions have been included as stakeholders along with a range of local NGO’s.
However, even if a lot has been done, there is considerable work left before the restoration can be said to be finished. Whilst the original project budget would have covered the whole sum at the time it was approved, today – due to serious inflation – an estimated 5 million ETB is needed to finish the work at the complex.
In Gonder, the number of tourists visiting the royal enclosures has risen by between 10–20.000 each year from 36 000 in 2004 to around 100.000 in 2008.