Baltit Fort sits on a rocky shelf above Karimabad, looking across the Hunza valley to the snowy peak of Rakaposhi. Built of stone and timber more than 700 years ago and enlarged many times since, it was the palace and stronghold of the Mirs, the rulers of Hunza.
A popular story says that a Hunza prince married a princess from Baltistan, and she brought Balti craftsmen with her to rebuild the fort, which is how it got its name. Its wooden beams and stone layers were designed to flex during the earthquakes that shake these mountains.
In 1945 the Mir moved to a new palace below, and the old fort began to crumble. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture restored it between 1990 and 1996, and it reopened as a museum of Hunza's history and culture.
