Tourist Attractions In Aswan | Ankh |
Aswan, Egypt’s sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town, has a distinctively African atmosphere. Small enough to walk’ around and graced with the most beautiful setting on the Nile, the pace of life is slow and relaxing.
Days can be spent strolling up and down the broad Corniche watching the sailboats etch the sky with their tall masts or sitting in floating restaurants listening to Nubian music and eating freshly-caught fish.
Here the Nile is at its most beautiful, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants.
Tourist Attractions In Aswan
Explore the souk, full of the scent and color of spices, perfumes, scarves and baskets; view the spectacular sunsets while having tea on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel. Aswan has been a favorite winter resort since the beginning of the nineteenth century and it’s still a perfect place to get away from it all.
Elephantine Island
Elephantine island is one of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan and one of the strongest forts along Egypt’s southern borders, this island lies opposite to the “Cataract Hotel”.
Its chief deity was “Khnum”, in the shape of a ram’s head. The tourist is advised to first tour the island before visiting its monuments and museum.
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The Island Temples
There are ruins of several stone temples from various periods. The inscriptions on the pylon of a hall in the southern temple depict Alexander II as king of Egypt while offering sacrifices to the local deities.
Aswan Museum
One of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan ,Located east of the old city, the museum houses a number of important relics from Graeco-Roman times, collected from Aswan and Nubia.
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The Nilometre
Dating to the Roman period, the Nilometre shows the height of the Nile floods in Greek, Demotic and Arabic, and was used until very recently.
The Gilika Island
This island now houses the Temple and relics of Philae island that was submerged by the waters of the High Dam.
The Temple of Philae, whiche considered as one of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan was dismantled and re-assembled on this island which lies about 500 meters from the original Philae Island. Sound and Light Spectacle is performed in various languages.
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The Agha Khan Mausoleum
The Mausoleum of the late leader of the Ismaili sect stands on the west bank opposite them Cataract Hotel. It is an exquisite example of Fatimid architecture.
Plantation Island
One of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan , Lies mid-stream, near Elephantine Island, is a natural exhibition of equatorial and tropical trees and shrubs.
Amun Island
A small island on which a tourist hotel was built.
Tombs of the Nobles
These rock-tombs are hewn in the western hills, opposite the northern tip of Aswan, and date back to the 23rd century B.C. The inscriptions covering The walls of these tombs depict the role of these nobles in protecting the land, and of their journeys to the interior of Africa.
The Monastery of St Simeon (Deir Amba Sama’an): Dating back to the 6th century AD, the Monastery is one of the most intact Coptic monasteries, It comprises a church with paintings showing Christ and the Saints.
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The Unfinished Obelisk
This huge unfinished obelisk measures 41 meters in length and 4 meters square at the base. It is important because it shows the techniques adopted by the Ancient Egyptians in cutting out these obelisks.
Amun Village
On the west bank, and overlooking Lake Nasser, the 48-acre village comprises a tourist hotel, with a main restaurant and an Italian restaurant, a fully-equipped therapeutic center, and 352 bungalows (chalets) built on Nubian architectural lines.
The Temple of Kalabsha
One of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan , Dating back to the Roman Emperor Octavius Augustus (30 BC-14 AD), the temple was moved from its original site 55 kms south of Aswan, on the west bank, and rebuilt near the High Dam. It is one of the largest sandstone temples in Nubia.
Its walls are covered with texts and inscriptions depicting Egyptian deities such as Isis, Osiris and others.
Beit el-Waly Temple
This rock-hewn temple is one of the five temples built by Ramses II in Nubia. It comprises a courtyard, a hypostyle hail, and a kiosk, with multicoloured texts and inscriptions, as well as scenes of the King in the battlefield.
Abu Simbel
The first, and largest of the temples, is dedicated to the sun god Ra-Harakhte, while the second, which is smaller, and a few meters to the north, was dedicated by Ramses II to his beautiful wife, Nefertari, to be worshipped together with other deities.
Abu Simbel temple is one of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan
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The Temple of Kom-Ombo
is one of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan , Located in the town of Kom-Ombo, 45 kms north of Aswan, the Temple, dating to the Ptolemies, is built on a high dune overlooking the Nile. There are also tombs from the Old Kingdom in the vicinity of Kom-Ombo village.
The Temple of Edfu
This huge and exquisite Temple, from the Ptolemic period, is one of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan and devoted to the god, Horus, is located at the town of Edfu, 123 kms north of Aswan.
The Aswan Dam
One of the best Tourist Attractions In Aswan , Built in 1902 AD south of Aswan, it signaled the beginning of modern irrigation in Egypt.
The High Dam
This 20th century engineering miracle is one of the largest dams in the world, and was built to safeguard Egypt against the high Nile floods which either destroyed large tracts of land or ran wastefully into the Mediterranean.
The dam, 111 meters above sea-level, is 3,600 meters long and 40 meters wide at the top.
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