LAHORE - US Consul General in Lahore Catherine Rodriguez Monday inaugurated the restoration of historic houses adjacent to the historic Wazir Khan Mosque. “The US government is proud of supporting the restoration of three historic houses,” she said at the ceremony held to commemorate the occasion. Catherine Rodriguez said that sites like the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore’s historic old city were a testament to the city’s rich and multilayered history. “We hope this project will serve as an enduring sign of the respect the United States has for Pakistan, its culture, and its people,” she observed. Minister for Auqaf and Religious Affairs Syed Saeedul Hassan, Walled City of Lahore Authority Director General Kamran Lashari and Chairman of Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan Akbarali Pesnani also attended the ceremony. According to a press release issued by the US Consulate in Lahore, the US Mission to Pakistan has supported the preservation and renovation of several sites within the Wazir Khan Mosque area. Since 2002, the US government has spent nearly $1.4 million on the Wazir Khan Mosque, Chowk, and adjacent houses to restore the glory of this magnificent architecture in Lahore. Restoration projects such as these preserve Pakistan’s cultural heritage and reflect the country’s historical religious diversity. The Government of Punjab and Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan also made generous contributions to the project. Through this rehabilitation project, the historic houses have been restored and the facades of the relatively modern structure have been brought into harmony with its historic neighbors. Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan carried out this conservation and rehabilitation project between August 2019 and April 2021. The effort was enabled through technical collaboration with the Walled City of Lahore Authority.