French Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, on Wednesday officially launched renovation works on the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ethiopia.
The project is being undertaken with funding and technical support from the French government.
A team of experts from France will head to the site next week to assess the scale of renovation works.
The exercise coincides with the French minister’s two-day working visit to Ethiopia as art of cultural and heritage partnerships initiated by Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and President Emmanuel Macron of France.
Franck Riester will meet with the senior Ethiopian government officials and with stakeholders of the National Palace project.
He will bestow the French National Order of Arts and Letters on the famous Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke.
He will also inaugurate “20 years of Ethiopian contemporary painting” art exhibition hosted by the Alliance Ethio-Française of Addis Ababa.
MG/as/APA