The Norwegian Embassy and the Government of the Republic of Ethiopia signed an agreement on 12th of December 2001 for the Rehabilitation and Restoration of the Bath through funding from Norway.
The main objectives of the project was the physical restoration of the structure to its authentic form, documentation of the heritage site’s history, restoration records and drawings and the establishment of a sustainable relationship between national and international professional institutions.
The structure includes a three-storied bathing palace with battlemented walls and a square tower standing in a sunken bathing place (53m*28m) surrounded by a masonry wall that encompasses a considerable area.
The physical restoration of the Bath means a lot to the People of Ethiopia and the residents of Gondar in particular as it has been used for the Timket celebrations for more than three hundred years. The Bath had recently deteriorated to the extent of not able to provide this service and on the 19th of January 2008 it was filled with water to its capacity for the Kitera (a day before Timket) celebrations in the presence of His Holiness Abuna Paulos Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ato Addisu Legesse Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and other federal and regional officials.
Programme officer Ashenafi Gizaw represented the Embassy at the opening ceremony.