The most beautiful religious buildings Nile Valley

Now you're ready to discover a superb temple not to be missed. Most of the present-day structure of Luxor Temple dates from the reign of Amenhotep III (1400 BC) and Ramses II (1235 BC). It is mainly dedicated to Amun, but also to Mut, his wife, and Khonsu, their son. This temple was very busy during the Opet festivities. The three sacred barks of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, stored year-round in their sanctuary at Karnak, would leave the temple on the shoulders of the priests to the general jubilation.

A 3 km-long alley, called dromos, lined with sphinxes, some of which are still visible, once again links Luxor to Karnak.

In front of the first pylon built by Ramses, only one obelisk remains. Both had been offered to France in 1831 by Mohammed Ali, but only one was transported to Parisand has since been enthroned on the Place de la Concorde. Symbolically, as soon as he was elected, President François Mitterrand, whose attachment to Egypt was well known, returned the obelisk that had remained in place.

Crossing the first pylon, on your right, you'll discover a chapel with three chambers, used as resting places for the barks of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Built by Tuthmosis III, this chapel breaks with the parallelism of the courtyard columns. On the left, overlooking the site, you'll notice the unusual location of a small mosque built in the ^13th century, at a time when the ruins of Luxor were still buried under sand. There was later talk of moving it, but the subject no longer seems to be on the agenda. The courtyard, built during the reign of Ramses II, is adorned with imposing statues of him. It opens onto an impressive avenue lined with columns, behind which you can observe processional scenes from the Opet festival. The bas-reliefs date back to Tutankhamun and Horemheb. The next courtyard, that of Amenhotep III, surrounded by columns, was once covered by a ceiling of such magnitude that it's hard to imagine its size. The repository in front of the sanctuary was rebuilt under Alexander the Great. The bas-reliefs depict him in the company of Amun, demonstrating the god's enduring importance in early Greek times. Try to time your visit for the end of the day or in the evening, it's grandiose. All lit up, it stands out against the blackish backdrop that night has laid over the city. It's magical!

Thanks to its exceptional state of preservation (the best in Egypt), the Edfu temple leaves a lasting impression. Its dimensions are impressive: it's the third-largest temple in Egypt after Karnak and Medinat-Abu. Construction began in 237 BC and took almost two centuries. The temple retains a perfect homogeneity in both structure and decoration, and vividly recreates the atmosphere that must have reigned there in ancient times. The sanctuary itself - the holy of holies - was accessible only to the local king and high priest. Dedicated to Horus, the great sky god, it is remarkable for its bas-reliefs, notably those depicting the annual meeting of Horus and Hathor, and those representing the goddess Nut in the New Year's chapel. Take time to observe the detail of some of the 18,000 hieroglyphs in near-perfect condition: impressive.

The 36 m-highpylon has retained the vertical grooves used to erect the wooden flagpoles. After crossing the forecourt of columns with capitals in the shape of palm, lotus or papyrus, you enter the first hypostyle hall, whose walls are decorated with scenes of offerings. Once again, the ensemble evokes nature, a marsh or a wood; plant motifs are found on every column. The room has 18 columns, 6 of which are enclosed halfway up by a wall that conceals the room's interior. To the left of the entrance, you'll notice a pink granite statue of Horus, and another broken one.

A second, smaller but more eleganthypostyle hall , supported by 12 columns, leads to several chambers where offerings were stored and rituals prepared. The next 2 rooms provide access to other chambers or chapels via staircases. The sanctuary, which retains its chapel carved from a single block of granite, dates from the reign of Nectanibis II. It originally featured a doorway and housed the sacred statue of Horus. The altar in front of the statue supported the god's bark.

Around the sanctuary, a corridor leads to 10 chambers. In one of these, a processional boat has been reconstructed. An open-air ambulatory takes you almost all the way around the building. Take your time to decipher the countless scenes depicted, and you'll be able to review Egyptian mythology. At the end of the visit, the subtle interplay of light and shadow within the edifice leaves its mark.

Like Abydos its neighbour, it rises on a site where already Khufu would have built a temple in 2600 BC. The similarities stop there however, Denderah not having the monumental aspect of the temple of Sety I, nor the quality of these bas-reliefs. Its construction dates from the 1st century BC. It was built over more than a century, up to the early years of the Christian era.

A mud-brick enclosure delimits the temple area where, until the 6th century, a large Coptic community lived. As you enter, on the right, you will notice a fairly well-preserved building, the Mammisi, whose frescoes relate the birth and childhood of Horus. Just next to it are some remains of a Coptic church from the ^5th century, of which little remains, and a little further on, a rather dilapidated complex of mud-brick that housed a spa for medical use. Going along the temple, still on the right, you will find the site of the sacred lake, dried up, from which some palm trees emerge and, just behind the main temple, a small construction, partially in ruins, dedicated to Isis. There you can admire some high quality bas-reliefs.

At the entrance to the great temple as well as inside, the columns supporting the roof are all bearing the effigy of Hathor. They have unfortunately been damaged. The ceilings are covered with astronomical scenes where you will have no trouble recognizing Nut, the goddess of the sky. As a special favour, the guards will ask you to go down to one of the fourteen crypts in the temple. Abundantly decorated, they were used to store highly sacred objects, such as the goddess's clothing, for example, whose statues were displayed during ceremonies.

The courtyard, preceded by a ruined pylon, gives access to a hypostyle room containing 18 monumental columns. Through a doorway one reaches the hall of the feast or apparition, supported by 6 columns, giving onto the offering room, in its extension, then the Enneade room, and finally to the chapel, also called the "venerable seat". The seat is surrounded by a "mysterious corridor" serving numerous chapels and logistical rooms

A staircase leads to the terrace. On the walls, the bas-reliefs represent a religious procession. On the one on the left, you will notice that the figures are all heading upwards. On the one on the right, everyone goes down! The famous zodiac, the original of which is in the Louvre, is in a small room overlooking the terrace.

This monumental complex - the largest after Karnak - occupies a site long dedicated to the cult of Amun.

What you will see is only part of a complex that included not only a royal palace, but also stores, administrative and priestly buildings, as well as a sacred lake fed by a canal that allowed pharaohs to reach their apartments without setting foot on land.

The whole complex formed a city, a veritable extension of Luxor on the other bank, and extended to the south-west of the temple. The mud-brick enclosure, which dates back to Ramses III, was home to a large Christian community until the early ^9th century. This community built a church in the second courtyard of the great temple, which has now disappeared.

You enter the complex through a monumental gate flanked by two towers. Immediately to the left is a small temple with two funerary chapels for the divine worshippers of Amun. On your right, you'll notice the small Temple of Thutmes, whose construction dates back to Amenhetep ^I for the sanctuary, and to Thutmes ^I, II and III for the six chambers at the back.

But it's above all the first pylon of the great temple that catches the eye, despite the partial destruction of its upper parts. On its façade, you'll recognize the king, to whom Amun is holding out a sword, preparing to finish off the prisoners. The first courtyard is lined with seven Osirid pillars representing Ramses III. The left wall, sheltered by a portico, was flanked by a balcony from which the king could attend ceremonies and processions without leaving his palace.

A ramp leads to the foot of the second pylon, giving access to the second courtyard. Having taken the Ramesseum as his model, Ramses III gave his temple the massive, imposing appearance that was the glory of that of Ramses II. This courtyard is bordered on all four sides by porticoes supported by columns. Numerous traces of exquisitely coloured paintings can be seen.

On the right-hand pylon, on the way back to the first courtyard, you'll see a heap of severed hands and sexes. They weren't kidding in those days!

The next room was supported by twenty-four columns, of which only the base remains. It takes a great deal of imagination to picture the original site. The rest of the temple is badly deteriorated. On the sides, several rooms for various purposes display some interesting bas-reliefs.

The extraordinary temple of Isis and the associated cult buildings dedicated to the goddess are no longer on the island of Philae, but on the island of Agikia. The real Philae is located 250 m to the south-east of the latter, and is completely submerged.

Philae has benefited from the rescue of the Nubian temples launched by Unesco in 1960. In 1975, a dam was built around the island, reducing the amount of water surrounding it and enabling the various buildings to be cut up and transported to the nearby island of Agikia. Reassembly was completed in 1980. Philae was saved from the waters.

This site is built not far from one of the most emblematic places in the Osirian myth. It was on the island of Biga, equidistant from Philae and Agikia, that Osiris' left leg was hidden by his brother and assassin, Set. Isis, Osiris' wife, finds it there and assembles her husband's body; she also buries it there, while Osiris is resurrected. Horus was conceived there. Isis then decided to move to the island of Philae to be closer to him.

During the ^XXVth dynasty (747 - 656), Hâpy, who commanded the Nile with the elephantine triad, was also thought to be hiding in a cave at Biga, where the river's source was also believed to be.

The temple of Isiswas built by the Ptolemies. It quickly became the center of Isis worship until 543 CE, after a decree by Justinian forbade it. A Christian church had already been established here in the ^4th century.

Two porticoes precede the great temple of Isis. At the southern end of the western portico stand the site's oldest remains, the kiosk of Nectabo^I (380 - 362), first king of the XXXth and last indigenous dynasty. The west portico is composed of 32 composite columns built under Ptolemy III; the ceiling features eagles with their heads turned towards the island of Osiris, Biga. The eastern portico is smaller, concealing an unusual temple dedicated to Imhotep, not a god but the architect of Djoser's pyramid at Saqqarah. The two porticoes frame a paved esplanade that leads to the temple's first pylon.

The first pylon is monumental. It follows in the tradition of the majestic entrances to the great temples, where wooden masts bearing the colors of the divinity were enshrined. It is preceded, on the right, by a small Ptolemy II door. It is Ptolemy XII triumphant who is represented on the bas-reliefs; a door pierced in the left-hand upright of the pylon gives access to the mammisi. Passing through the doorway, engraved messages dating from Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt can be seen on the right.

The inner courtyard houses the curious mammisi, erected by Ptolemy III in honor of the birth of Horus. The temple is divided into three halls, the second of which is devoted to offerings, with bas-reliefs recounting Horus' conception (left) with Amun and Khnum, and his birth (right), which took place not far away. In the third room, Isis nurses her child. On the outer walls, the god Harpocrates, who was none other than Horus to the Ptolemies, looks like a thumb-sucking child.

The second pylon, like the rest of the temple, is offset from the first. Its dimensions are just as impressive as this one. Access is via a stepped ramp. It depicts Ptolemy XII presenting offerings to the gods, while the large round stele on the right, giving the Dodecachene mining region to Philae, was written by Ptolemy VI.

The hypostyle hall is supported by 10 columns, and is both open-air and protected by a stone ceiling. It features the emblems of Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as Coptic crosses carved when the pronaos was transformed into a church.

The sanctuary is preceded by three vestibules and surrounded by nine other rooms. It still contains the repository on which the tabernacle containing the statue of the divinity was placed. Surrounding it is an open-air offering courtyard, while a staircase leads up to the temple terrace. From the first vestibule, you can exit the temple to find Hadrian's Gate to the west.

Hadrian's Gate opened onto a temple dedicated to Osiris. The bas-reliefs depicting the god Hâpy and the sources of the Nile beneath the island of Biga are worth a look. You can also access a nilometer near this gate.

To theeast of the great Temple of Isis, four buildings from the Philae complex have been relocated.

Diocletian's Gate, located at the northernmost point of the island, is a triumphal arch erected by the emperor; it was here that the entrance to the site was made. The central arch has disappeared, leaving only the two side gates intact. Not far away, the foundations of a temple of Augustus remain, the stones of which were used to build churches in the ^4th century.

Continuing south along the riverbank, the Temple of Hathor was built by Ptolemy VI and his successor. It is a courtyard and sanctuary dedicated to Hathor, who at the time was equated with Isis, as the history of the Egyptian pantheon has sometimes allowed.

Trajan's kiosk, further south, although entirely Roman, is extremely romantic, with its 14 composite columns. Two opposing doors open onto this kiosk. Next to the kiosk are the benches for the sound and light show.

The Ptolemaic temple of Kom-Ombo was built over two centuries, between the ^2nd and ^1st centuries BC, by kings Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy XII. The courtyard and surrounding wall are more modern and were built during the Roman period. The temple is dedicated to two deities: Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroëris, one of the manifestations of Horus. Its diminished appearance is due to erosion and flooding from the Nile. The use of the temple's stones to build Coptic monuments has undoubtedly also contributed to its current appearance.

The monumental gate was erected by Ptolemy XII. Only two elements remain.

All that remainsof the pylon are a few bases, leading to two parallel paths of worship: to the left, towards Haroëris; to the right, towards Sobek. This leads into the Courtyard of Tiberius (14-35 BC), surrounded by 16 ornate columns. In the center of this courtyard, the altar is the only element common to both divinities, as their offerings were placed on it.

The portico is typical of the Ptolemaic period, consisting of a wall ending at mid-height and encircling the 5 composite columns belonging to the hypostyle hall. The outer scenes depict Pharaoh being purified by Thoth and Horus before Haroeris on the left and Sebek on the right.

The first hypostyle hall is supported by fifteen columns, five of which are integrated into the portico. It is common to both cults and gives access to the second, smaller hypostyle hall, supported by ten papyrus columns. Here, Ptolemy VIII is shown facing Haroeris, from whom he receives his sword and coronation. Both rooms have preserved numerous traces of polychromy.

The two chapels are preceded by three double vestibules, the first decorated with purification and consecration rites, the second with offerings. Little remains of the two chapels, apart from the resting places for the sacred boats. Numerous side chapels surround them. In the outer ambulatory, bas-reliefs provide information on the art of surgery as it was known at the time.

Outside the temple, opposite the monumental gate, stands the mammisi of Ptolemy IX (116-107), a small secondary temple. It is located not far from a nilometer and a well.

The Crocodile Museum, located halfway between the temple and the exit, features a fine collection of mummified crocodiles, with explanations to match.

Where the devil is Simeon? We don't know, except that he gave his name to this superb monastery built in the 6th century by monks to protect themselves from the looters who came from the desert. It is a beautiful building surrounded by high walls (8 m) with a stone base and a brick top. It was sacked by the hordes of the warrior Salah al-Din in the 12th century, and it preserves impressive ruins, which are very photogenic, especially at sunset.

Even more than its architecture, the site's location at the foot of a vertiginous limestone cliff is likely to surprise you. Extremely dilapidated when Auguste Mariette began clearing it, it is still being restored today.

Hatshepsut's temple, originally surrounded by hanging gardens with pools, was built by the architect Senmout during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1490-1468 BC). Access was via an alley lined with sphinxes. On the queen's death, her successor, Thutmes III, who had previously been kept out of power, had most of the bas-reliefs depicting Hatshepsut hammered out. During the reign of Amenhotep IV and his heresy, as well as during the Christian era, Hatshepsut's temple suffered further abuse before being transformed into a monastery. On either side of the ramps leading to the upper terraces are magnificent bas-reliefs, the finest being those on the middle level. They depict the maritime expedition organized by Hatshepsut to the land of Punt, identified today as Somalia and Ethiopia, from which animals and a particularly wide range of riches were brought back.

At thefar end of the left-hand portico is a small chapel dedicated to the goddess Hathor, whose cow-like ornaments make her easily recognizable as an ornament on the capitals. On the right wall, soldiers march in orderly rows, each carrying a different weapon: spear, stunner, axe... Next to them, rowers compete. The next room, long off-limits to visitors, is now open, so you can see the colors still adorning the walls.

On the right, there's a chapel of Anubis, sculpted with splendid bas-reliefs in absolutely intact colors. The ceiling, painted a deep blue and studded with yellow stars, is admirable.

The third terrace , whose restoration was completed in 2002, features a colonnade of Osirid pillars bearing the effigy of Hatshepsut, whose alignment of icy smiles is sublime. Inside, a former hypostyle hall, now roofless, opens onto several oratories, including the one to the left of Thutmose I, the sovereign's father.

To the left of Hatshepsut's temple, almost completely ruined and clearly visible from the top of the cliff, are the remains of the temple of Mentuhotep I, built six centuries earlier, and behind it, in a similar state, the temple of Thutmes III.

The temple is dedicated to the god Khnum, represented with a ram's head, lord of Elephantine and part of the eponymous triad who commanded the Nile, god who created living beings on his potter's wheel. The goddesses Neith and Heket were also celebrated, the former being the mother of all gods, and the latter having participated with her in the creation of the world.

It was built during the Ptolemy period, in the 2nd century BC, and by the Roman Emperor Claudius between 41 and 54 AD. The hypostyle hall was then preceded by a second hypostyle hall, a naos, a main chapel and side chapels, with an ambulatory running all around the temple. The building is currently located 9 m below street level.

The openwork portico reveals six columns of the hypostyle hall. This structure is characteristic of Ptolemaic monuments and their Roman replicas. The scene represents Titus facing several deities. The two side doors were used by the priests

The hypostyle hall has preserved its 24 lotus-shaped columns whose scenes narrate the creation of the world orchestrated by Neith. The west wall is the oldest wall of the building and contains scenes of offerings from the periods of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The east wall shows a scene of a massacre, while in the corner is a calendar of the festivities celebrated. Its ceiling is perfectly intact; it has astronomical elements that explain the solar race and the constellations.

It was Augustus who erected this temple, originally located 40 km north of its present site. Earlier, Amenhetep II had built a temple here dedicated to Mandulis, also called Meru, a minor Nubian god, but also celebrated at Philae in the temple of Isis. His lion-like appearance associated him with Tefnut, the distant and dangerous daughter of Ra. Even later, he was linked to Apollo. Measuring 71.60 m long by 35.50 m wide, it was one of the largest sanctuaries in Nubia at the time, alongside Philae and Abu Simbel. The dismantling and relocation of the temple was the first work of its kind, and served as a model for all others of its kind in the region.

Two surrounding walls surrounded the temple; only one remains today.

Pylon: two upright positions indicate that masts once stood in front of this recent temple, typically of Roman date; it gives access to an open-roofed courtyard surrounded by 14 pillars.

Pronaos: once past the Ptolemaic portico, access is gained to a covered pronaos supported by eight columns.

Sanctuary: two vestibules precede the sanctuary, where Augustus is depicted giving offerings to various deities.

Enclosure: the enclosure provides access to the outer walls of the temple and to the now useless site of a nilometer.

To the west, a small chapel dedicated to Dedoun, a young Nubian god known as "the purveyor of incense", also appears at Philae.

Solitary and majestic, the mausoleum of Agha Khan III, buried in 1959 (2 years after his death), overlooks the Nile with its pared-down architecture, inspired by the Fatimid tombs of Cairo. Erected at the request of his wife Begum, whose house lies below, the ^48th Imam of the Ismailis (a dissident sect of Shiite Islam whose 4 million followers are mainly in Pakistan) rests here "in the name of a merciful and clement God", in a marble sarcophagus. The mausoleum is located on the other side of the Nile, which is particularly photogenic.

Built in 1995 only thanks to private donations, the Cathedral of Archangel Michael is the second largest cathedral in Egypt. Its 3,500 square meters can hold 3,000 worshippers. This cathedral is home to the Orthodox Christians. Beyond the nave richly decorated with oak wood icons, it impresses above all by its two 44-metre high towers. Its white dome rises above the cornice. It is located a few meters from the Nubian Museum.

At the foot of the West Mountain, near Quseya. This is one of the most sacred places for the Copts of Egypt. Surrounded by an imposing medieval wall, it was built around a grotto where the Holy Family is said to have found shelter when they fled to Egypt, before returning to Palestine. The oldest church in the monastery dates back to 38 AD, and is believed to be the oldest in the Christian world. An important stopover for pilgrims following in the footsteps of the Holy Family in Egypt.